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Melissa N. G. Vela
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Jodye Selco, Ph.D.
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Special Thanks
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Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science
Harvard University
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John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Science
is Everywhere
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Introducing Earth
THIS AT HOME
A map is a tool for traveling from one place
to another on Earths surface. Find a map
and locate where you live. Locate another
place on the map like your friends house,
your school, or a place in another state!
Using the map, list the directions explaining
how to get from your house to this other
Chapter 1
Science Is Everywhere
Your brain processes information all the time. You use this
information to make choices and solve problems. What choices
do you make when you eat lunch? How do you solve a problem
like finding a missing sock?
Think about the title of this chapter. Is it true? Is science
everywhere? Read Chapter 1 to find out!
What is science?
Observe Science is a process for answering questions. You start the science
process by making observations. For example, look at the picture
below. One observation about this picture is that the girl is
reading a book. Another observation is that the girl is smiling.
Figure 1.1: The science process is
like looking for a lost sock.
Question Once youve made your observations, you continue the science
process by forming a question. Why is the girl smiling?
Hypothesis Based on your observation, you might propose that the girl in the
picture is smiling because she likes to read. An explanation, or a
possible answer to a scientific question based on observations, is
called a hypothesis. A hypothesis is not necessarily true or correct
though. How can you find out if your hypothesis is correct?
Collecting data Scientists collect data to find out if a hypothesis is correct or not.
You could ask the girl why she is smiling. She might say, I like to
read! Or, you could ask her friends whether or not she likes to
read. By collecting data, you learn if your hypothesis is correct.
Types of data There are many different types of data. Qualitative data are in the
form of words. Quantitative data are in the form of numbers. Here
are some examples of data.
Examples of
qualitative data
Examples of
quantitative data
The scientific Scientists observe, form a question, state a hypothesis, and collect
method data by performing an experiment. Once these steps occur, the
Anyone can be a Anyone can be a scientist. You have worked like a scientist if you
scientist have performed an experiment. Scientists are curious and they
enjoy solving problems.
experiment - an activity
performed to support or refute a
hypothesis.
Fields of science
A list of sciences Figure 1.4 lists some fields of science. Below youll find examples
of what scientists do in each field. All fields of science use the
scientific method. Which field of science is most interesting to you?
Physics Physics is the study of how and why things move. Physicists study
motion, electricity, light, and sound. Marie Curie was a physicist
who studied radioactive substances. In a physics class you might
measure how fast something moves or learn how sound is made.
Biology Biology is the study of living things. Living things include bacteria,
insects, fish, plants, animals, and people. If you take a biology
class, you might learn about DNA or about how you digest your
lunch!
Astronomy Astronomy is the study of stars and planets and anything else that
is in space. Astronomers discover new planets and galaxies and
study objects that would take thousands of years to travel to.
Earth science Earth science is the main focus of this textbook. Earth science
includes the study of how Earths surface changes, the study of
rocks and rock formations, and the study of fossils.
Ecology Ecology is the study of living things and how they interact with
each other and their environment. Like earth science, ecology is
taught in this textbook. You will have a good start on becoming an
earth scientist or ecologist after you read this textbook!
Science at school Check out your pencil. Making a pencil involves a range of
sciences. A basic pencil is made of rubber, metal, wood, and
graphite (Figure 1.5). The rubber for the eraser might be from a
rubber plant or it could be a product derived from petroleum.
Earth scientists often work in the petroleum industry. The wood of
your pencil was probably harvested from a forest. Biologists play
an important role in understanding the growth cycle of trees so
that forests used for industry are sustainable. The lead of your
pencil is a mixture of clay and graphite. The right mixture of these
two materials was probably determined by a chemist.
Science after What kinds of activities do you do after school that involve
school science? If you play a sport, youll be affected by the laws of
Science at meals Do you eat a variety of foods each day? To help you make healthy
choices, visit the website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA): http://www.mypyramid.gov. MyPyramid is based on the
2005 Dietary Guidelines set by the federal government,
recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences, and the
current eating patterns of people in the United States (Figure 1.5).
MyPyramid is science in action to help you eat well!
Powers of observation
Making An observation is an accurate description of a thing or an event.
observations The sky is blue is an observation. However, if you look at the sky
every day, you will observe that it is not always blue. Some days it
is grey, or it may be streaked with shades of red during a sunset.
Observations What happens when a weather report predicts rain? Most likely,
versus opinions you form an opinion. Some people, especially farmers, like rain. A
baseball team or a person who wants to have a yard sale might
grumble, I dont like rain! What is your opinion when it rains?
An observation is: It is raining.
An opinion is: I like rain!
An observation Lets imagine your school wants to pick new school colors. The
example principals opinion might be that the colors should be purple and
red. A survey of all the students would allow the principal to pick
the school colors based on an observation rather than his or her
opinion. A survey might reveal that 90% of the students prefer
blue and gold, 5% prefer blue and green, and 5% prefer purple and
red. With the results of the survey, the principal can make the
observation that the majority of students prefer blue and gold.
10
Taste and smell The senses of taste and smell are used when scientists develop new
food products. How food tastes and smells determines whether it is
enjoyable to eat. Lets say a company wants to develop a new brand
of sugarless, cinnamon-flavored gum. Food scientists use chemistry
to determine how to make the gum sugarless, taste good, and taste
and smell like cinnamon. Look at some food labels. Can you tell
which ingredients are added to improve the taste and which might
be added to enhance the smell?
11
Recording observations
Keeping a Scientists write their observations in a notebook. A notebook is an
notebook important tool in science. Figure 1.8 shows Thomas Edison,
inventor of the modern light bulb, writing in his notebook.
What do I write? The science process helps you know what to write. First you record
your observations, a question, and a hypothesis. Then you record
the experiment procedure and data. Data can be descriptions or
measurements. The table below lists measurements that you
might make during an experiment. The table also lists the tools
needed to make these different measurements. You write your
conclusions last. Now, your experiment can be repeated by you or
by other people because you have recorded everything you did!
If you need to measure...
12
Use a...
balance or scale
volume
temperature
thermometer
time
13
2. Ask a question
3. State a hypothesis
4. Collect data
5. Draw conclusions
14
Communicating research
Sam used the scientific method to
learn why the grass in the school
yard is brown. Imagine that you
are on the student council. The
student council wants to know the
results of Sams research. They
also want to know what to do to
make the grass green again.
Write an essay that explains
Sams research and list three
ideas for protecting the grass.
while they waited for the bus. Below are other testable hypotheses
that Sam could have made.
The grass near the walkway is brown because:
What happens Sam made a hypothesis and documented evidence that his
next? hypothesis was correct. Sams next step might be to report the
15
describes an observed
phenomenon; it is supported by
evidence collected from many
observations and experiments.
16
17
Chapter 1 Connection
Thinking scientifically
Like most scientists, Dr. Lopes follows the scientific method
in her research. The first step is to ask questions. For
example, why are volcanoes important to understand?
Scientists study volcanoes on Earth in the hope of being able
to predict eruptions. Millions of people live near volcanoes.
Their eruptions can cause great harm to local communities
and the wider region. A volcanos eruption can cause climate
changes and affects not only people, but also plants and
animals.
Volcanoes are an important feature on Earth and other
planets. Our planet has the most volcanoes in the solar
system. Yet for Dr. Lopes, studying volcanoes on Earth was
not enough. She recognized that by studying volcanoes on
other planets, she could ask even more questions, and
different kinds of questions. Meaningful questions can lead
to a better understanding of the universe in which we live.
18
Gathering data
A record-breaking mom
Stop and think about what you could do to get in the
Guinness World Records. Hop on one foot for a long time?
Eat a lot of pies? What do you think Dr. Lopes did to get into
the Guinness book?
She (not surprisingly) discovered volcanoes. Lopess
discovery of 71 active volcanoes on Iowhich is about 500
million miles away from her Pasadena labis a world
record. Her son thinks it is great to have his mom in the
Guinness World Records.
When asked what is the best part of her work, Dr. Lopes
says: The knowledge that I am exploring new places and
seeing places that nobody has seen before. The thrill of
discovery drives many of us scientists. It is not always a
Wow, look at that, though there is certainly plenty of that.
Often discovery is the painstaking analysis of data, not
unlike a detective unraveling a mystery.
Chapter 1 Connection
Questions:
Presenting data
Scientists communicate their findings in many ways. Dr.
Lopes writes papers that are published in scientific journals.
She gives talks at scientific meetings. An important part of
her job is speaking to the public and she often presents
seminars at universities and astronomy clubs.
19
Chapter 1 Activity
Cup A
Cup B
Initial observations
(before any tests)
Test 1
Test 2
Test 3
Questions
Procedure
1. Make a table like the one on this page on a separate sheet
of paper.
2. There are two cups in front of the room, labeled A and B.
There is a liquid in each of the cups. Write down your
observations about these two liquids in the first row of
your table. These are your initial observations before
your teacher has conducted tests.
3. Now, your teacher will begin a series of tests on each of
the liquids.
20
Chapter 1 Assessment
Vocabulary
Concepts
Section 1.1
science
data
experiment
inference
scientific method
scientific theory
hypothesis
scientific law
Section 1.1
1.
You look up at the sky and see dark clouds. You predict that
it might rain. A statement like this based on experience is
called a(n) _____.
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
3.
5.
4.
Section 1.2
5.
6.
6.
7.
8.
Section 1.2
Section 1.3
Section 1.3
9.
7.
8.
21
10. You observe that the plant in the window is turning brown.
State a hypothesis to answer the question: Why is the plant
in the window turning brown? Explain how you could test
your hypothesis.
7.
8.
1.
Choose two things that you do every day and explain how
science relates to these things.
2.
3.
In Section 1.1, you will find a birds eye view of the erupting
Colima volcano. This image shows what the volcano looks
like if you were flying above it (like a bird). Draw a sketch
that shows what this volcano might look like from the side.
Section 1.2
4.
5.
Section 1.3
6.
Pretend you are Sam from Section 1.3. Write up a lab report
based on the experiment he did.
22
Chapter 2
2.1 Measurement
An important step in the scientific method is collecting data. Measurements
are one form of data. Measurements tell you how big or how small something is.
Measurements also help you compare objects.
What is a measurement?
Why are units Lets use an example. A basketball player might say, Im tall!
important? Im almost 2 high.
You might think almost 2 doesnt sound very tall.
The basketball player is not tall if his height is almost 2 feet. A
medium-sized dog is about two feet tall. However, the basketball
player is tall if he is almost 2 meters tall. Two meters equals a
height of about 6 feet 6 inches (Figure 2.1).
The words meters and feet are units. Always include a unit
when making measurements. Do you see why this is important?
Activity: How tall are you in feet and meters?
Find a partner. You and your partner will need two measuring tools:
a yardstick and a meter stick. Use the yardstick to measure height in
feet and inches. Use the meter stick to measure height in meters and
centimeters. Measure your partners height. Your partner will
measure your height.
How tall are you in feet and inches?
How tall are you in meters and centimeters?
24
The Metric During the 1800s, a new system of measurement was developed in
System Europe and Great Britainthe Metric System. The goal of this
25
Useful prefixes Prefixes are added to the names of basic units in the SI Units
system. Prefixes describe very small or large measurements.
There are many SI units prefixes. The good news is that only three
prefixes are needed most of the time, even in science.
Prefixes
millicentikilo-
Prefix + meter
millimeter
centimeter
kilometer
Compared to a meter
1,000 times smaller
100 times smaller
1,000 times bigger
Figure 2.3: In 1791, a meter was
26
The liter The basic SI unit of volume is the liter. The liter is based on the
centimeter. The prefix centi- means 1/100. A centimeter is onehundredth of a meterabout the width of a pencil. A liter of
volume is equal to the volume of a cube-shaped box that is
10 centimeters on each side (Figure 2.4).
The gram A gram is the basic unit of mass in the SI Units measuring system.
Water, a common substance, was wisely chosen as the material to
define the gram. The water used to determine the mass of a gram
must be pure, and the temperature and pressure have to be just
right. A gram is defined as the mass of one-thousandth of a liter of
pure water. Using prefixes, this means a gram is the mass of a
milliliter of water. You will learn more about mass in Section 2.2.
2.1 MEASUREMENT
27
Measuring small The volume of liquids can be measured by pouring them into
volumes of liquid containers like beakers or graduated cylinders (Figure 2.6).
28
7. If you were going to measure the length of your foot, would you
use millimeters, centimeters, or meters? Explain your answer.
8. How many liters of water are in a cubic meter?
9. What is the mass of a cubic meter of water in kilograms?
10. A metric ton equals 1,000 kilograms. What is the mass of a
cubic meter of water in metric tons?
11. A room is 8 meters wide and 5 meters long. This room is 4
meters high. What is the volume of this room?
12. Challenge: Write a short story or describe a real-life story that
illustrates why units are important.
2.1 MEASUREMENT
29
Mass stays the Mass and weight are not the same thing. One apple has a mass of
same about 150 grams. If you flew in a space ship to Mars, the apple
would still have a mass of 150 grams. However, the weight of the
apple would be different!
30
Measuring time
What time is it? What time does your school start in the morning? What time does
school end? These questions ask about one moment in time. For
example, one important moment each day is the start of lunch time.
Many people are ready to eat lunch at 12:00 p.m. each day
(Figure 2.8).
Units for You are probably familiar with the common units for measuring
measuring time time: seconds, hours, minutes, days, and years. But you may not
know how these units relate to each other. The table below gives
some useful relationships between units of time.
Time relationships
1 minute = 60 seconds
1 hour = 60 minutes
1 day = 24 hours
1 year = 365 days
31
Measuring temperature
Two temperature There are two commonly used temperature scales. If the
scales temperature in England is 21 degrees Celsius, you can wear shorts
and a T-shirt. If the temperature in the United States is
21 degrees Fahrenheit, you will need to wear a heavy coat, gloves,
and a hat. The United States is one of few countries that still use
the Fahrenheit scale. For this reason, it is useful to know both of
these temperature scales (Figure 2.10).
Celsius On the Celsius scale, water freezes at 0C and boils at 100C. The
normal human body temperature on the Celsius scale is 37C.
Most science and engineering temperature measurements are in
Celsius because 0 and 100 are easier to remember than 32 and
212. Most other countries use the Celsius scale for descriptions of
temperature, including weather reports.
Converting You can convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius using these
between the formulas.
scales
You are doing a science
experiment with a Fahrenheit
thermometer. Your data must be in
degrees Celsius. If you measure a
temperature of 86F, what is this
temperature in degrees Celsius?
32
33
Converting
Fahrenheit
degrees
(9/ 25C) + 32 =
5
a.
25C
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
100C
5C
34
77F
40F
100F
200F
Your brain
The scientific method
An experiment
Ruler, meter stick, tape
measure
Triple beam balance
Beakers or graduated cylinders
Thermometer
Stopwatch
Clock
Calculator
Graph paper
Computer
What is a system?
A group of A system is a group of objects and the factors that affect these
objects objects. Some systems are listed below:
35
independent variable - a
variable that is changed in an
experiment. The independent
variable is sometimes called the
manipulated variable.
the height of the ramp is the independent variable and the speed
of the car is the dependent variable.
Control variable For example, to study height, you keep the other variables the
same. A variable that is kept the same in an experiment is called a
control variable. The mass of the car is a control variable. If you
changed the height of the ramp and the mass of the car you would
not know which variable affected the speed.
36
Energy in systems
Energy Energy is an important variable in all systems. Energy is a
measure of a systems ability to change or create change in other
systems. Energy has many forms. Some examples of energy are
heat, motion, light, height, pressure, electricity, and calories. Here
are examples of energy and the resulting changes in the systems:
Boiling (heat) changes the appearance of an egg.
Kicking a ball (motion) moves it into a goal.
Moving a book from a low to a high shelf (height) changes its
position.
Increasing the amount of air in a tire (pressure) makes it firm
and able to support a car.
Turning on a TV (electricity) causes an image to appear on a
blank screen.
Eating food provides energy (calories) to your body.
Energy in Systems tend to move from high to low energy (Figure 2.14). A
systems system at higher energy is unstable, while a system at lower energy
is stable. The car is unstable at the top of the ramp where its
energy of position (height) is greatest. It naturally rolls to a more
stable position at the bottom of the ramp. Likewise, a child has
more energy at the top of a playground slide. Once the child slides
down, she is more stable and has less energy.
Friction Energy is liberated due to friction when two objects rub against
each other (Figure 2.15). The more friction there is between objects,
the more energy builds up between them as they try to move past
each other. Some of this energy is converted to heat. You can
generate heat due to friction by rubbing your hands together really
fast. If you wet your hands, it will be harder to generate heat. This
is because the water reduces friction between your hands.
37
Large scale Variables are on a large scale when you can see them with the
naked eye, or measure them directly. The mass of a car and the
temperature of a pot of water are large-scale variables. Most of the
things you measure in classroom experiments are large-scale, or
macroscopic.
The scale of Some variables are so small that they are not visible to the eye or
atoms readily measured. Temperature and energy are related variables,
but it is not possible to understand how they are related using a
macroscopic scale. To understand the connection between
temperature and energy we must look using the atomic scale, the
scale of atoms and molecules.
Atoms Atoms are tiny particles, far too small to see without powerful
magnification tools. Many of the large-scale properties of matter
that you can observe depend on the behavior of atoms. To
understand certain aspects of the world (such as temperature)
we need to understand the behavior of atoms.
38
Models
What is a model? Explanations in science typically come in the form of models. A
model is an explanation that connects the variables in a system
through cause and effect relationships. For example, if you increase
the height of the ramp, the cars speed will increase. A model is a
good science tool because it helps you think about how two
variables are related. There are many types of models.
Mental models If you wanted to kick a soccer ball into a goal, you could come up
with a mental model. You imagine the ball going into the goal and
that helps you know how hard to kick the ball (Figure 2.17).
Physical models A physical model (or scale model) is a small version of something
big. Engineers make small model bridges to learn how to make an
actual bridge for a city. A scale model has to be proportional to the
real object. For example, a scale of 1 centimeter = 10 meters means
that an object 100 meters long in real life would be 10 centimeters
long in a small-scale model.
mass, and c stands for the speed of light. This mathematical model
states that energy equals mass times the square of the speed of
light. Graphs are another type of mathematical model that youll
learn about in the next section. A graph is a picture that shows how
two variables are related.
39
40
Do an experiment
Below are two experiments for
you to try. Be sure to state a
hypothesis before you do your
experiment, and follow the steps
of the scientific method.
(1) Use the car and ramp to
answer the following question:
Does mass affect a cars speed on
the ramp? Be very detailed in how
you design your experiment and
collect your data.
(2) Do an experiment to answer
the following question: Does
salty water freeze at a lower
temperature than tap water? Here
are some tips for this experiment.
Place containers of salty water
and tap water in a freezer. Use
equal volumes of water. Observe
the water samples at regular
intervals and measure the
temperature of each. Record the
temperature at which ice forms on
each sample.
2.4 Graphs
An experiment is an important scientific tool. One of the reasons its a good tool is
that it produces information or data. A graph is a mathematical model that helps
you interpret the data you collect.
What is a graph?
A graph is a A graph is a picture that shows how two variables are related.
picture Graphs are easier to read than tables of numbers, so they are
often used to display data collected during an experiment.
Types of graphs Types of graphs include line, bar, and pie graphs. A line graph is
used when one variable causes a second variable to increase or
decrease in value. For example, the more gas you put in a car, the
farther it travels (Graph A). A bar graph compares categories of
information. Graph B compares five places and their distances from
home. A pie graph is a circular graph that also compares categories
of information. The data in a pie graph is usually written in
percentages. Graph C shows how a student spends her time during
24 hours. What would the graph look like if the student spent half
her day in school and half her day asleep?
41
Parts of a graph
A picture of A graph is a picture of information. All of the space on the graph
information should be used so that the data picture is easy to understand.
Example A car wash is being held to raise money for a school trip. The data
set (Table 2.1) and the line graph below show the relationship
between the amount of money in the cash box and the number of
hours spent washing cars.
42
x
# of hours
washing cars
y
Amount of
money in
cash box
(x, y)
Coordinates
0
1
2
3
4
5
20
35
50
65
80
95
(0, 20)
(1, 35)
(2, 50)
(3, 65)
(4, 80)
(5, 95)
Step 2 The next step is to make a scale for each axis of the graph.
Remember that the word scale refers to the size of something.
When talking about a graph, scale refers to how each axis is
divided up to fit the range of data values. For example, lets say we
have a piece of graph paper that is 12 boxes by 12 boxes. The range
of values for the x-axis is 0 to 5. The range of values for the y-axis is
20 to 95. To make a graph of this data, we need to figure out the
value for each box on each axis.
2.4 GRAPHS
43
The scale for the x-axis is easier to determine. You have 12 boxes
and values from 0 to 5 hours. The data range is 5 hours.
Data range Number of boxes on the axis = Value per box
5 hours 12 boxes = 0.42 hour/box
One box equals 0.42 hour per box. Round 0.42 to 0.5. This means
every two boxes equals 1 hour.
For the y-axis, the data range is $20 to $95. To more easily
calculate the scale, choose $0 to $100 as the data range. Calculate
the scale this way:
Data range Number of boxes on the axis = Value per box
$100 12 boxes = $8.3/box
Round $8.3 to $10. One box on the y-axis equals $10 (Figure 2.19).
Now, write the numbers of the data range on each axis at evenly
spaced intervals. Label each axis with its corresponding variable
and unit.
Step 3 Plot each point by finding the x-value and tracing the graph
upward until you get to the correct y-value. Make a dot for each
point. Draw a smooth curve that shows the pattern of the points
(Figure 2.20).
44
a.
b.
c.
Variables
Independent
or
dependent?
Test scores
Hours of sleep
Mass
Speed of the car
Amount of
sunshine
Pieces of fruit
per tree
3. Below is a list of data sets. State what kind of graph you would
use for each.
a. Favorite foods of a group of 100 students: 10% prefer steak,
20% prefer french fries, 20% prefer spaghetti, 25% prefer ice
cream, and 25% prefer pizza
b. Speed of a toy car on a ramp versus the height of the ramp
c. Books in a library: 2,000 non-fiction books, 1,500 fiction
books, 500 childrens books
4. A blank graph is 10 boxes by 10 boxes (Figure 2.21). You want
to plot a data set on this graph. The range of values for the xaxis is 0 to 20. The range of values for the y-axis is 0 to 10.
Make a sketch that shows the scale that you would use for each
axis.
2.4 GRAPHS
45
Chapter 2 Connection
Modern Map-Making
Can you imagine trying to sail around the world without a
map? The first Europeans to reach North America did just
that. According to archaeologists, the history of mapmaking
dates all the way back to early humans. They had the ability
to produce a
rough, but
amazingly
accurate drawing
of their
surroundings.
Some of the first
maps showed
hunting and
fishing areas
with detailed
drawings. A
picture is really
worth a thousand words when it comes to finding your way.
Mapmaking is known as cartography. The early European
cartographers were often painters and artists. It was
considered more of an art than a science.
46
Chapter 2 Connection
Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is cartography?
Explain what the Geographic Information System is.
In what ways are GIS and CAD systems different?
What are the advantages of the National Map?
47
Measurement Olympics!
Chapter 2 Activity
48
Olympic Results
1. Record your results below. Any result with missing or
incorrect units will be automatically disqualified from the
Measurement Olympics!
2. After you have recorded your results there will be a class
discussion about the winners. Record the winners results
for each event!
Olympic Event
My Results
Winners Results
Straw Javelin
Paper Cup Challenge
Pebble Grab
Side Step
Hoppity Hop
Questions
a. Calculate the difference between the winners results and
your results for each event. (Dont forget units!)
Olympic Event
Difference
Straw Javelin
Paper Cup Challenge
Pebble Grab
Side Step
Hoppity Hop
Chapter 2 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences.
measurement
unit
atom
mass
gram
weight
dependent variable
variable
control variable
liter
energy
graph
meter
independent variable
system
volume
Section 2.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Concepts
Section 2.1
1.
2.
Section 2.2
7.
8.
9.
Section 2.3
3.
(a) I am 2 tall.
Section 2.2
4.
11. The color of the car is an example of a _____ that I did not
study in my experiment.
49
5.
6.
7.
Section 2.3
8.
9.
50
window, and you put the spider plant in a closet, where the
light will be turned off for the duration of the experiment.
The experiment lasts one week. Each day at 9:00 am you
measure the height of each plant and record your data using
centimeters in your science notebook. At the same time, you
water each of the plants with 500 mL of water.
Is your experiment a good scientific experiment? Why or
why not?
10. Identify the independent variable, dependent variable, and
the control variable(s) in this experiment. Explain your
reasoning.
Question: How does wheel size affect the speed of
carts moving down a ramp?
In the experiment, there are 5 carts that are all identical,
except for the wheels. Each cart had a different size wheel
with diameters as follows: 5 cm, 7 cm, 9 cm, 11 cm and
13 cm. The carts were placed one at a time on a ramp and
released. The carts were released from the same starting
point. The time for each cart to roll 2 meters down the ramp
was recorded. There were 3 trials for each cart, and the
same ramp was used for the entire experiment.
11. You are doing a presentation about The Golden Gate Bridge
in your social studies class. Since you can't bring the bridge
to class, you want to make a model of the bridge for your
classmates. In a paragraph, describe the best model you
could use. What type of model is this? What is one essential
component to your model, so your classmates get an
accurate depiction of the bridge?
12. Friction is known to:
a.
b.
c.
d.
CHAPTER 2 ASSESSMENT
b.
Section 2.4
50
120
40
100
80
30
60
20
20
c.
Pizza
10
Ice cream
Tacos
Chocolate
Spaghetti
15. Below are three data sets. What kind of graph would you
use to plot each data set? Explain your answer.
a.
40
10
Favorite food
25%
Section 2.1
35%
1.
35%
5%
0%
Day number
Height (cm)
3.2
4.5
1,000 millimeters
300 centimeters
2 kilometers
2.
3.
4.
51
5.
6.
12. Below is a bar graph for climate data in Los Angeles over
one year. Answer the following questions about the graph.
Section 2.2
7.
8.
9.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Section 2.3
10. Here are some examples of systems: the Earth and moon
system, the digestive system in your body, and a fish in an
aquarium. Choose one of these systems and write a
paragraph about it that answers these questions:
What are the different parts of the system?
Why is it a system?
What variables affect the function of the system?
Section 2.4
52
Chapter 3
Introducing Earth
Earth is an enormous system. Studying such a large system
can be difficult. Through observations, scientists have come
up with techniques to make the study of Earth easier. A
couple of techniques that you will learn about in this chapter
are relative dating and tree-ring dating. Scientists also use
maps to study Earth. Look at a map of your town. What
conclusions can you draw about Earths surface and geology
from that map?
How did Steno realized that when an animal dies it is eventually covered
teeth get inside a by layers of soil. The animals soft parts decay quickly, but bones
rock? and teeth do not. Over a long period of time, the soil around the
dead animal becomes rock with the bones and teeth inside.
54
Relative dating
What is relative Stenos thoughts and observations helped him develop ideas about
dating? how rocks and fossils form. His ideas are used today in the study of
geology as a technique called relative dating. Relative dating is a
method of putting events in the order in which they happened.
How is relative Relative dating can be used to determine the general age of a rock,
dating used? rock formation, or fossil. Relative dating does not try to determine
the exact age of an object, but instead uses clues to figure out the
order of events over time. A simple example of relative dating is
presented in Figure 3.2. Which event occurred first?
The present Like Steno, Scottish geologist James Hutton (17261797) was an
explains the past important figure in the development of modern geology. Hutton
For example, think of the last time it rained really hard. What
happened to the ground? You might have seen small rivers of water
washing away soil. When the rain stopped, there may have been
grooves left behind by the rivers of rain. The way water affects the
land is seen every time it rains. We can use the observations that
we make in the present to figure out how the Grand Canyon was
formed in the past! The Grand Canyon was formed by the Colorado
River (see next page).
55
Stenos ideas
Stenos ideas for relative dating include superposition, original
horizontality, and lateral continuity. These ideas help identify the
clues you need to put events in the order in which they happened.
Lateral continuity Lateral continuity is the idea that when layers of sediment are
formed, they extend in all directions horizontally. Subsequently, a
separation may be caused by erosion or an earthquake. The
Colorado River created the gap that is now the Grand Canyon. If
you were to compare rock layers in the Grand Canyon, you would
find that the layers on one side of the canyon match up with the
layers on the other side (Figure 3.4).
56
Figure 3.5 shows a rock formation with three layers and a crosscutting vein. The rock layers formed first. The vein formed when
melted rock oozed into a crack in the original rock, cutting across
the layers. Then the melted rock solidified. The bottom layer is
the oldest part of the rock formation and the vein is the youngest.
The middle and top layers formed after the bottom layer but before
the vein.
Inclusions Sometimes rock pieces called inclusions are found inside another
rock. During the formation of a rock with inclusions, sediments
or melted rock surrounded the inclusion and then solidified.
Therefore, the inclusions are older than the surrounding rock
(Figure 3.5). A rock with inclusions is like a chocolate chip cookie.
The chocolate chips (inclusions) are made first. Then they are
added to the batter (melted rock or sediment) before being baked
(hardened) into a cookie (rock).
Faunal Faunal succession means that fossils can be used to identify the
succession relative age of the layers of a rock formation (Figure 3.6). For
57
2.
3.
4.
58
Paleozoic era The Paleozoic era lasted from 542 to 251 mya. During the
Cambrian period many new, complex life forms developed, but
glaciers covered the Earth in the Ordovician period, causing many
of these new organisms to become extinct. Fish, reptiles, and
amphibians developed during the rest of the Paleozoic era.
Mesozoic era The Mesozoic era lasted from 251 to 65 mya. At the beginning of
this era, Earths continents were connected in one supercontinent
called Pangaea. During the Triassic period, pieces of Pangaea
moved apart. The Jurassic period was marked by the dinosaurs and
the appearance of the first birds. During the Cretaceous period, the
Rocky Mountains in the western part of the United States formed.
Flowering plants also evolved during the Cretaceous period.
Cenozoic era The Cenozoic era began 65 mya and is still going on. A giant meteor
hit Earth at the beginning of the Tertiary period. Scientists believe
this event may have ended the existence of the dinosaurs. Modern
humans appeared 40,000 years ago during the Quanternary period.
59
The half-life of Scientists know that it takes 4.5 billion years for one half of the
uranium uranium atoms in a specimen to turn into lead. We say that
Earth is around The oldest rocks found on Earth so far are around 4 billion years
4.6 billion old. Scientists cant determine Earths exact age by dating Earths
years old rocks because the oldest rocks have been destroyed. But scientists
have found moon rocks and meteorites that are around 4.6 billion
years old, and since it is believed Earth was formed at the same
time as the rest of the solar system, that would make Earth
around 4.6 billion years old as well.
60
called tree rings. For pine trees, one tree ring includes two bands
one light and one dark. A tree grows one tree ring for every year
that it is alive (Figure 3.9).
Very old trees The oldest tree that we know about, a bristlecone pine called
Methuselah, is 4,765 years old. It is located in the White
Mountains of California. A bristlecone pine is pictured in
Figure 3.10. Redwood trees, the worlds tallest trees at about
300 feet tall, are found in California and can live to be 2,000 years
old. This means that there are some trees that have been living on
Earth for longer than any human being or animal!
Trees are like history books. Each tree ring is a record of what
the environment was like that year. For example, even though no
one living today was around in the 1800s, we can guess what the
environment might have been like back then by studying a 200year-old tree.
61
62
of a location.
Depth The depth of rivers, lakes, and oceans is important information for
certain maps. The depth of these features is compared to sea level.
Scale of maps The scale of a map helps you relate the small distances on the map
to the larger real-life distances. There are three kinds of map
scales. A fractional scale shows the ratio of the map distance to
the real-life distance as a fraction. The scale 1/100,000 means that
1 unit on the map is equal to 100,000 units in real life. A verbal
scale expresses the relationship in words, 1 centimeter is equal to
1 kilometer. A bar scale is simply a bar drawn on the map with the
size of the bar equal to a distance in real life.
63
Topographic maps
What is a A topographic map is a map that shows elevation. Since a map is
topographic often a flat piece of paper, you may wonder how you can show a
map? mountain on a map. Topographic maps use special lines called
contour lines to show mountains and other land features.
Contour lines Contour lines indicate all points where the elevation is the same.
The zero contour line on a topographic map indicates sea level
(Figure 3.13). A 100-meter contour line indicates points that are
100 meters above sea level.
Direction and Maps show directionnorth, south, east, and west. An example of
map symbols the direction symbol you might see on a map is shown at the left. A
legend is a special area on the map that lists the symbols that are
used. Topographic maps (and bathymetric maps) use a range of
symbols to show contour lines, rivers and lakes, roads and train
tracks, airports, types of plants, buildings, and many other things.
National Map The United States Geological Survey (USGS) publishes about
Accuracy 57,000 topographic maps of the United States. These maps are
Standards drawn according to the National Map Accuracy Standards. The
64
What does the Figure 3.14 illustrates how contour lines are used to make a
map look like? topographic map. The first linethe 0 contour lineshows
the outline of the island when the water is at sea level. At the
10-meter mark, the outline of the island is smaller and lies
inside the 0-meter contour. On the right side of the map, the
space between the 10- and 20-meter contour is wider than on
the left. This shows that the right side of the island is not as steep
as the left side. When contour lines are close together, you know
that the land is steep. When contour lines are farther apart, the
land is not as steepit slopes gradually. Only the highest of the
two peaks is shown on this topographic map. The second peak is
less than 40 meters high but taller than 30 meters. We would need
a contour line at 35 meters to see this peak.
65
Bathymetric maps
What is a A bathymetric map shows the depths of a body of water such as
bathymetric a lake or an ocean. Bathymetric maps use contour lines to show
map? depth (Figure 3.15). However, depth can also be shown using color.
The map below shows land elevation and ocean depth using color.
Longitude and The bathymetric map below has numbers on the top, sides, and
latitude bottom. These numbers are part of a grid system that helps
describe locations on Earth. There are two starting places for this
grid. The equator is an imaginary line around Earths middle and
between the north and south poles. The prime meridian is an
imaginary line that goes through Greenwich, England, and is
perpendicular to the equator.
Latitude lines are north or south of the equator (the zero line) and
run east-west (left to right on the map below). Longitude lines (or
meridians) are east or west of the Prime meridian (the zero
meridian) and run north-south (top to bottom on the map below).
Both latitude and longitude lines are measured in degrees. The
star on the map indicates the location of the Hawaiian volcano,
Mauna Loa: Latitude 19.5 north, Longitude 155.5 west.
10
66
67
Chapter 3 Connection
Tree rings
Generally, trees
growing in mild
climates produce one
growth ring per year.
Tree-ring growth is
affected by rainfall,
temperature, and
nutrients in the soil.
Trees that grow
under good
conditions have wide
ring growth. Those
growing under poor
conditions produce
narrow rings. Each
tree ring typically
represents an annual
growth cycle.
However, counting tree rings to determine a trees age is not
enough. Occasionally, a tree may grow more than one ring or
none at all over a year. Dendrochronologists use cross-dating
68
Bristlecone pinesthe
oldest living trees
Conifers are cone-bearing,
needle trees that are often
chosen for research. Fir and
pine trees are easy to work
with because they have clear
rings and they grow quite
old. Some trees, such as
maples and oaks, may live
250 years. But conifers may
live thousands of years.
Bristlecone pines are the oldest living trees on Earth. People
often think that big trees with big, wide trunks are old. But
big does not necessarily mean old. Bristlecone pines grow
slowly and are not that large. They are able to ward off
insects and disease and that allows them to live a long, long
time. A bristlecone pine named Methuselah is growing in the
White Mountains of California and is the oldest living tree in
the world. Discovered in 1953 by Edmund Schulman, this
tree is more than 4,750 years old.
Questions:
Chapter 3 Connection
69
Chapter 3 Activity
Materials
The materials used for Investigation 3B; modeling clay
and a rectangular piece of cardboard (with the same
dimensions as the bottom of the GeoBox)
What you will do
70
Chapter 3 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences.
geology
relative dating
topographic map
legend
bathymetric map
radioactive decay
equator
contour line
elevation
latitude
map
sea level
longitude
prime meridian
element
fossil
Section 3.1
1.
2.
3.
13. _____ lines are imaginary lines on Earths surface that run
east-west and represent north and south locations.
14. _____ lines are imaginary lines on Earths surface that run
north-south and represent east and west locations.
15. The _____ is a line that falls between the north and south
poles on Earth and that represents 0 latitude.
16. The _____ is a line that is perpendicular to the equator and
that represents 0 longitude.
Concepts
Section 3.1
1.
2.
3.
An inclusion is:
Section 3.2
4.
5.
Section 3.3
6.
7.
8.
9.
a.
b.
c.
71
4.
Section 3.3
5.
Section 3.2
6.
How old is Earth? How old is the solar system and the
moon?
7.
c. carbon
d. phosphorous
8.
9.
72
a.
b.
c.
d.
1.
2.
CHAPTER 3 ASSESSMENT
3.
Section 3.2
4.
5.
7.
Section 3.3
9.
6.
8.
a.
b.
c.
d.
b.
73
Energy in
Earths Systems
Chapter 4
Heat
Chapter 5
Density
and Buoyancy
Chapter 6
Earths Surface
and Heat
Chapter 7
THIS AT HOME
The next time you have spaghetti for dinner,
observe the process for boiling the noodles. Make
sure you have an adult nearby the whole time!
Record your observations including how the stove,
pot, water, and heat are used to cook the noodles.
Try to come up with at least ten observations.
Chapter 4
Heat
Have you ever seen a hot air balloon float high above Earths
surface? What about a hang glider or a soaring bird of prey
like a hawk? Each of these objectsa hot air balloon, a hang
glider, and a hawktake advantage of heat to fly. In this
chapter, you will learn about heat and temperature and how
they affect natural events and human activities.
Kinetic energy Imagine what it would be like to live in an atom-sized world. If you
were suddenly shrunk to the size of an atom, you would be pushed
and shoved by all the atoms and molecules around you. Watch out!
Atoms and molecules whiz by at amazingly fast speeds! The
constant motion of atoms is a form of energy. The energy of motion
is called kinetic energy. Faster atoms have more kinetic energy
than slower atoms.
76
CHAPTER 4: HEAT
What is your Sometimes when you are sick, your forehead feels very warm and a
temperature? thermometer might show a temperature of 100F or more. The
normal temperature for the human body is 98.6F. A thermometer
measures the average kinetic energy of the atoms in your body.
* Footnote: This definition of heat was adapted to be appropriate for the level and content of this text.
77
78
CHAPTER 4: HEAT
Fortunately, the hot dinner plate will not stay too hot forever.
Eventually, as heat from the plate transfers to the cooler air
around it, the plate cools down to the temperature of the room.
Usable energy Michelle will eat the spaghetti on her plate to get energy to do her
and heat homework. Some of that energy will be used by Michelle to do her
79
to the touch after it has been lit for awhile. This is because only 2%
of the energy produced by a regular (or incandescent) light bulb is
light energy and 98% of the energy produced is heat energy. Only
a small amount of the energy produced by the bulb is useful for
brightening a room (Figure 4.3).
Heat and cars The source of energy for a car is gasoline. For most cars, about
20% of the gasoline burned by the engine is used to move the car.
Eighty percent of the energy from the gasoline is given off as heat
energy (Figure 4.4).
Heat and fuels Like a light bulb or a car, a power plant loses some of the energy
it produces as heat. A power plant is a place where electricity is
generated. Fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas are common
sources of energy for power plants. The first step of producing
electricity involves burning the fossil fuels to boil water. The
resulting steam turns a turbine. The turbine converts the energy
from the steam into energy that turns a generator. The generator
then converts this kinetic energy into electricity. The electricity is
carried to your house by wires. Some heat is lost at each step in
the process of converting fuel energy into useful electricity.
80
CHAPTER 4: HEAT
Student
Alice
Bernard
Chloe
Dev
Eduardo
AVERAGE
Speed (cm/s)
100 cm/s
150 cm/s
50 cm/s
75 cm/s
125 cm/s
(sum of five
speeds 5)
81
What is Convection is the transfer of heat through the motion of gases and
convection? liquids such as air and water. Warm air tends to rise and cold air
tends to sink. Convection occurs naturally in Earths atmosphere.
Convection also occurs in homes. To understand convection, lets
think of how a room gets heated.
Convection is Air near Earths surface gets warm and rises. Hawks make use of
used to fly convection to soar in the sky. Rising warm air provides lift so that
hawks can soar. Eventually, the rising warm air cools down and
sinks back to the ground where it may get reheated.
82
CHAPTER 4: HEAT
direct contact. If you hold an ice cube in your hand, warmer hand
atoms will transfer heat by conduction to the cooler ice cube atoms.
Example of heat Unlike the atoms in liquids and gases, the atoms in solids are
transfer by anchored in place. They can wiggle and push each other, but they
conduction do not move freely. If you place a cold spoon into a mug of hot cocoa,
you may notice that the handle of the spoon becomes warm. If solid
atoms cant move freely, how does the handle of a spoon resting in a
mug of hot cocoa get warm? Imagine the spoon handle as a long line
of atoms. At first, all of the atoms are moving at similar speeds.
You know this because the whole handle is at the same
temperature. Soon the part of the handle closest to the surface of
the cocoa heats up. This means that the handles atoms close to the
surface of the cocoa are now wiggling and pushing at a higher
speed. As these atoms push other atoms further along the handle,
these more distant atoms speed up in turn. In a similar fashion, the
atoms are sped up all along the handle. Transferring heat this way
is an example of conduction.
83
Summary of
convection,
conduction, and
radiation
All three forms of heat transfer are often working at the same time
to transfer energy from warmer objects to cooler objects. A pot of
water being heated by a campfire is warmed through the process
of conduction, convection, and radiation!
84
CHAPTER 4: HEAT
85
Radiation from
the Sun
Internal heat The Earths internal heat energy mostly comes from its core
energy (Figure 4.9). Much of this heat energy is left over from when Earth
first formed. Some of the cores heat energy comes from the
breakdown of radioactive atoms. Radioactive atoms are unstable
and undergo changes that produce heat and other products.
86
CHAPTER 4: HEAT
87
Chapter 4 Connection
Earths Energy
Remember the last time you dipped your foot into a bathtub
of hot water? Or how good it feels to take a hot shower on a
cold rainy day? The hot water we use every day has to be
heated by a system. Your home probably has a hot water
heater to heat water. However, there are places on Earth,
like Iceland, that use Earths plumbing and heating system
to get hot water. Parts of this system are geysers and hot
springs. The source of heat is geothermal energyheat that
comes from inside our planet.
88
Old Faithful
There are four big locations for geysers on the planet:
Iceland (where they got their name), Yellowstone National
Park in Wyoming, North Island in New Zealand, and
Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. Old Faithful in
Yellowstone is one of the worlds famous geysers. Just about
every 35 to 120 minutes, it shoots water 100 to 200 feet into
the air. Yellowstone is located over a hot spot in the planets
Chapter 4 Connection
Questions:
1. What is geothermal energy?
2. What is the difference between a hot spring and a geyser?
3. Why is geyser a good term for Old Faithful?
89
Chapter 4 Activity
Materials
Two 16- or 24-ounce soda bottles with some sand for
stability
Two digital thermometers and paper towels
Light source
Black paper and white paper
Stopwatch (or use the CPO Science timer)
Tape, pencil, and a metric ruler
4. Tape the black paper to the bottle. Wrap the paper snugly
around the bottle, and tape it in place.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the other bottle, substituting the
white paper for the black paper.
6. Place each bottle 10 cm away from the light source.
7. Record the initial temperature of the bottles in Table 1.
8. Turn on the light source and record temperatures in both
bottles every minute for 10 minutes in the table.
9. Graph your data. Use the time as the x-axis data and the
temperature as the y-axis data.
10.Make a legend to indicate the curves for the black bottle
and white bottle. Dont forget to label your axes, to use
units, and to title your graph.
10
Black bottle
White bottle
90
Chapter 4 Assessment
Vocabulary
2.
molecules
kinetic energy
convection
temperature
power plant
radiation
conduction
Section 4.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Twenty five grams of hot water has more _____ energy than
fifteen grams of hot water.
Section 4.2
6.
7.
8.
Concepts
a.
b.
c.
4.
5.
For a hot air balloon to work, the air molecules inside the
balloon must be heated. Explain how these molecules
behave when they are heated. Use your new vocabulary to
explain.
6.
Section 4.2
7.
8.
b.
Two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom make one water
_____.
_____ move constantly, make up matter, and are too small
to see with your eyes or a magnifying glass.
atom(s)
molecule(s)
power plant(s)
9.
radiation
convection
conduction
Birds use this type of heat transfer to lift them in the air.
a.
b.
c.
a.
3.
Section 4.1
1.
radiation
convection
conduction
radiation
convection
conduction
CHAPTER 4 HEAT
91
Section 4.3
Section 4.2
10. From where and in what form does Earth get most of its
surface energy?
5.
6.
Section 4.3
7.
8.
1.
2.
3.
4.
92
CHAPTER 4 HEAT
1.
2.
Chapter 5
5.1 Density
Its impossible for a person to lift real boulders because theyre so heavy (Figure 5.1).
However, in the movies, superheroes move huge boulders all the time. And at the
end of a scene, a stagehand can pick up the boulder and carry it away under one arm.
How is this possible?
Mass vs. weight What is the mass of your body? You are probably familiar with
measuring your weight, but not your mass. Mass and weight are
not the same thing. Mass is the amount of matter in an object.
Weight is a measure of the pulling force of gravity on mass. In the
English system, weight is measured in pounds. The SI unit is
called a newton. It takes 4.448 newtons to make one pound. You
can think of a newton as a little less than a quarter-pound.
Weight on other The force of gravity is different on every planet in our solar
planets system. As a result, your weight would change if you visited
94
Mass
Weight
(kg)
(newtons)
Earth
45.5
445
Jupiter
45.5
1,125
Volume
A solid cube or Volume is the space that something takes up. To find the volume
rectangle of a solid cube or rectangle, you measure the length, width, and
height of the object. Then you multiply the length, width, and
height together. If your measurements are in centimeters, the
volume unit will be cubic centimeters, or cm3.
5.1 DENSITY
95
Density
What is density? Think again about the fake boulder mentioned earlier. A fake
boulder has to have the same volume as a real boulder, so it will
look realistic. However, for a person to be able to lift the fake
boulder, it must have a much lower mass than a real boulder.
Density is the word used to describe the comparison between an
objects mass and its volume. Specifically, density is the mass of
an object divided by the volume of the object. A real boulder has
a greater density than a fake boulder made of plastic foam.
Density depends All matter is made of tiny particles called atoms. The density of a
on two things material depends on two things:
1. The mass of each atom or molecule that makes up the
material.
2. The volume or amount of space the material takes up. This is
related to how closely the atoms or molecules are packed in
the material.
A material like plastic foam has low density. Plastic foam has
individual molecules that are low in mass and not packed very
close together. Additionally, plastic foam has air pockets. A
material like rock has individual molecules that are higher in
mass than the atoms of plastic foam, and they are packed more
closely to one another. This means rock has a higher density than
plastic foam (Figure 5.3).
Solids, liquids, Like solid objects, liquids and gases are made up of atoms and
and gases molecules and have mass and volume. As with solids, you can find
the density of a liquid or a gas too!
96
Finding density
Doing the math The density of an object is found by measuring the objects mass
and volume then dividing the mass by the volume. Division can be
shown with a slash mark (/). The slash is read as the word per. A
density of 2.7 g/cm3 is read as: two point seven grams per cubic
centimeter.
The density of a The density of a material is always the same under the same
material is always conditions. This is true regardless of how much of the material you
the same have. For example, the density of aluminum metal is always 2.7 g/
97
98
Rock (granite)
Water
Air
2.5
1.0
0.001
(g/cm3)
5.2 Buoyancy
Why do some things float and others sink? Ice cubes can float in a glass of water, but
a pebble will sink. People usually float in water, but scuba divers can sink to different
depths to explore a coral reef or a sunken ship. What causes things to float and sink?
Solids, liquids, We are used to talking about a solid object, like a boat, floating or
and gases can sinking in a fluid like water. Figure 5.4 gives examples of objects
float and sink that help people float safely in water. But other examples of
5.2 BUOYANCY
99
cm3
of water.
The rock weighs On Earth, this 400 cm3 rock weighs 9.8 newtons. This means that
9.8 newtons if you are holding the rock, you use 9.8 newtons of force to support
it so it doesnt fall to the ground.
The water weighs On Earth, the 400 cm3 of water displaced by the rock weighs
3.9 newtons 3.9 newtons. This means that it takes 3.9 newtons of force to
support the displaced water.
The water pushes When the rock is dropped into water, the water pushes back on the
on the rock with a rock with a force equal to the weight of the displaced water. The
3.9 newton force upward force shown in Figure 5.5 is called buoyant force. The
buoyant force is always equal to the weight of the displaced fluid.
Why does the The rock sinks because its weight is greater than the displaced
rock sink? waters weight. The 9.8-newton downward force acting on the rock
is greater than the waters 3.9-newton upward force.
100
Floating
A beach ball It is nearly impossible to get on top of a floating beach ball in a
swimming pool. It takes a lot of weight to push it underwater. Why
do you need to work so hard to push a beach ball underwater?
Why does a A beach ball seems to float on top of the water. In other words, it
beach ball float? does not displace a lot of water. Why? The answer is easy. The
Try this!
1. Tie a piece of string around a
rock and hang it from a spring
scale.
How do you get a If you pushed a large beach ball completely underwater, it would
beach ball displace a volume of water equal to about 30,000 cm3! This amount
underwater? of water weighs 294 newtons. If the beach ball weighs only
4 newtons, you need to push down with at least 290 newtons (about
65 pounds) of your weight to get the ball underwater! In the
example below, the girl is pushing down with only 150 newtons of
weight so the beach ball is still partially above water. Keep in mind
that any object or material floats if it pushes aside enough water to
give an upward buoyant force that supports its weight.
5.2 BUOYANCY
101
The density The amount of fluid pushed aside by an object (buoyancy) depends
connection on the space an object takes up (its volume). You already know
that density depends on mass and volume (D = m/V), so there
must be a connection between buoyancy and density.
Floating, sinking, Examine each test tube in the graphic below to determine whether
and density the object sank or floated. Density values for wood, glass, water,
and mercury are listed in Figure 5.6. Complete these sentences to
make two rules that use density to predict floating or sinking.
Density (g/cm3)
air
0.001
wood
0.9
water
1.0
glass
2.3
mercury
11.0
1. When an object is less dense than the fluid it is in, the object
will __________ (sink/float).
2. When an object is more dense than the fluid it is in, the object
will __________ (sink/float).
102
An Eggs-periment
Neutral buoyancy A scuba diver uses a buoyancy control device (BCD) to sink or
float in water. To sink, a scuba diver releases air from the BCD to
decrease her volume. This reduces her buoyant force and makes
her more dense. To rise to the waters surface, she has to become
less dense by increasing her buoyant force. So, she increases her
volume by filling her BCD with air from her scuba tank. She can
stay in one place underwater if she has neutral buoyancy. This
means she has the same density as the water around her! She can
be neutrally buoyant by controlling the amount of air in her BCD.
5.2 BUOYANCY
103
b. concrete
e. orange juice
c. water
f. helium
104
Warm air
Warm air from a Look at the picture of the candle below. As the candle burns, the
candle ribbons of mylar (the shiny, thin material that is often used to
A mystery Why do the mylar ribbons move when there is no breeze from an
open window or a fan? The candle simply sits there, warming the
air around it. Look at Figure 5.7. The carousel moves using only
the heat from candles too. How?
Mystery solved The air above a candle feels warmer than the air below the table on
warm air rises which it has been placed. Therefore, warm air must move upward.
Mystery solved! In the graphic above, the current of rising warm
air causes the mylar ribbons to move. In Figure 5.7, the current of
rising warm air causes the fan to move. The first mystery is solved,
but now there is a new mysterywhy does warm air rise?
105
Mass or volume? You know that density is the relationship between the mass and
the volume of matter. In the examples on the previous page, the
burning candle warmed the air around the flame so that the air
became less dense than the cool air. To make the density of any
material smaller, you would need to either make the mass smaller,
or make the volume bigger. So, did the burning candle decrease the
mass or increase the volume of the warm air so that it became less
dense than the cool air?
Fast-moving Warm air molecules move faster than cool air molecules. Fasterwarm air moving warm molecules push against each other with more force
molecules than cold molecules. This causes warm molecules to be pushed
Earths enormous We have just studied an example of heat affecting air density in a
energy simple candle system. We studied it in detail because, as you will
106
107
Chapter 5 Connection
Do you know what the oldest form of aircraft is? You may
think it is the airplane flown by the Wright brothers in 1903.
The hot-air balloon dates back much earlier than the Wright
brothers. In 1783, the first passengers in a hot-air balloon
were a duck, rooster, and a sheep.
108
Balloon festivals
Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett is the first person to fly solo around the world
in a hot-air balloon. He is an adventurer who worked
10 years to achieve this goal. On June 19, 2002, Fossett
completed his trip. His journey lasted 14 days, 19 hours, and
51 minutes. Fossett did run into problems during his great
balloon adventure. At one point, he had to fly as low as
500 feet to avoid very high winds.
Although Fossett was alone in the balloon, he did not work
alone to complete the trip. He had a team that included
meteorologists, engineers, scientists, and balloonists.
Fossetts balloon was equipped with computers, telephone,
radio, and almost 20 pounds of maps. He also had oxygen
available for high altitudes. The air at high altitudes is very
thin and does not have enough oxygen for normal breathing.
Chapter 5 Connection
Questions:
1. How does heat affect air density?
2. Describe buoyancy and its effect on a hot-air balloon.
3. How do you steer a hot-air balloon?
109
Chapter 5 Activity
5. After a short cooling time, the red layer will form little
waterfalls that sink through the clear water. They may
even form little smoke-ring-like structures as they fall. If
this does not happen within a few minutes, add a little
more salt to the hot red water, stir, and try again.
Materials
110
For part 2:
c. Where did the blue water go? Why?
d. In this model, the blue water was less salty than the
surrounding water. Think of another way you could cause
the results seen in this activity. Write your own
procedure, test it, and explain what happened.
Chapter 5 Assessment
Vocabulary
4.
density
buoyant force
1.
2.
3.
Concepts
Section 5.1
1.
Section 5.2
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
a.
b.
c.
11. You want to heat a cold room. You place a space heater in a
corner. Using what you know about the density of warm air
versus cool air, explain what happens in the room when the
space heater is turned on.
d.
12. What are two ways to make the density of an object smaller?
Give your own example.
2.
3.
temperature
weight
heat energy
volume
buoyant force
1.
2.
c. 240 cm3
d. 100 cm3
111
3.
4.
You know that a box can contain 150 cm3 of water. Give an
example of what the dimensions of the box might be.
5.
cm3.
Section 5.2
6.
7.
Section 5.3
8.
9.
10. The density of water is 1.0 g/cm3 and the density of wax is
0.9 g/cm3. Would wax float or sink in water?
112
Chapter 6
Earth is just right because its temperature is not too hot or too cold (Figure 6.1).
Metals like lead melt on the hot surface of Venus, but not on Earth. Some gases
freeze solid on Pluto, but not on Earth. Earths temperature is especially nurturing
for living things. This section is about how Earths temperature stays just right.
Mercury
-170 to 390
Venus
450 to 480
Temperature
Earth
-88 to 48
Mars
-89 to -31
Water for life The temperature range on Earths surface is just right for water to
be a liquid. Liquid water is extremely important for living things.
For example, an adult human body is 60% to 75% water. You need
water to keep your blood, brain, and lungs working properly!
Jupiter
-108
Saturn
-139
Uranus
-197
Neptune
-201
Pluto
-223
114
Earths motion The motion of Earth also helps to balance its surface temperature.
Read on to find out how two of these motions, rotation and
revolution, affect the temperature of every place on Earth.
Revolution Revolution is the motion of a planet around its star, like a race car
that moves around and around a circular track (Figure 6.2). One
complete trip around the track would be one revolution. It takes
about 365.25 days for Earth to make one revolution or one trip
around the Sun. Later in this chapter well learn how the
revolution of Earth is related to the seasons.
Figure 6.2: Earth rotates on its axis
and revolves around the Sun.
115
Greenhouse Gases
to turn it? The bottom will be burned to a crisp, and the top will
be undercooked. The planet Mercury is like that. One day on
Mercury lasts for about 58 Earth days! The long day causes the
temperature on the Sun-facing side of Mercury to reach about
400C. Something made out of the metal lead would melt at this
temperature! At the same time, the dark nighttime side plunges to
-170 Celsius. Thats so cold that the liquid in a thermometer
would freeze.
The Earth is just Even though Earth is farther away from the Sun than Mercury,
rightnot too hot our night side never gets as cold as Mercurys night side. Why not?
or too cold! Think about burgers again. A good chef turns the burger so it
browns nicely on both sides. Similarly, the Earth turns rapidly
enough so that there isnt enough time for our night temperature
to sink too low. In the same way, there isnt enough time for
Earths day temperature to rise extremely high.
116
Earth is tilted One guess might be that Earth is closer to the Sun during summer.
But this isnt the correct answer! Earth has seasons because it is
tilted on its axis. During our summer, the northern hemisphere
receives sunlight that is more direct than it is in the winter, and in
summer there are more hours of daylight. This means we have
warmer temperatures in summer than we do in winter.
Earths axis
Earth rotates about an imaginary
axis that goes through its center.
This axis is drawn on Earth images
in the diagram at the left. The
diagram shows that Earth is tilted
at 23.5 as it revolves around the
Sun.
The axis connects the north and
south poles. The north end of the
axis points toward the North Star
throughout the year.
117
118
Water is everywhere!
1. Look indoors and outdoors and
list everything you see that
contains water. Remember to
include food, drinks, things in
nature, and even YOU!
2. Make a second list of every
activity, job, or process you do
throughout a usual day where
water is used.
Compare your journal lists with
your classmates. Are your lists
complete?
Oceans
Water covers Oceans are massive bodies of seawater that cover much of Earths
most of Earths surface. Land only covers about one-quarter of Earths surface. The
surface rest is covered with water, especially ocean water. About 97% of
Earths water is contained in oceans.
Oceans spread If Earth was the same temperature everywhere, the winds and
heat energy ocean currents would be very weak. In Chapter 4 you learned that
119
Water expansion Ocean surface currents are also driven by a process called
also drives expansion. Expansion occurs when something increases in size.
surface currents The climate at the equator (Figure 6.5) is hot all year long and
warms the ocean surface. This makes the surface water expand
so that the water level is a little higher at the equator. The force of
gravity causes the expanded surface water to slide toward the
north and south poles. This effect helps to drive the surface ocean
currents. The diagram below shows why water expands when it
is heated.
120
Ocean gyres
Rotation of Earth Surface ocean currents do not simply flow in a straight line away
from the equator. The rotation of Earth causes the flow to curve
to the right above the equator, and to the left below the equator.
This natural phenomenon is called the Coriolis effect. Because of
this effect, surface ocean currents can flow in a circular pattern
called a gyre. Each ocean basin contains a gyre. Gyres north of the
equatorlike the North Atlantic Gyre belowturn in a clockwise
direction. Gyres south of the equator turn in a counter-clockwise
direction. It takes about three years for water to complete the path
of the North Atlantic Gyre. This rate was determined by tracking
bathtub toys that had spilled into the Atlantic Ocean (Figure 6.6)!
Heat energy Surface ocean currents move an enormous amount of heat energy
away from the equator. Find New York and England on the map
below. You can see that England is farther north of the equator
than New York. Find the Gulf Stream part of the North Atlantic
Gyre. The Gulf Stream carries so much heat energy that England is
as warm as New York! Moving this amount of heat energy is
incredible. With all our modern technology, we cant come close to
producing this much heat energy.
121
Two things As surface ocean currents flow near the equator, the Sun warms
happen at the the water and the water expands. This means that the surface
equator water becomes less dense. At the same time, these warm currents
A giant conveyor As long as salty currents are warm, their expansion keeps them
belt of water near the oceans surface. But as they flow toward the poles, these
currents cool down and the expansion effect is lost. The cooler,
saltier water sinks toward the ocean floorlike an underwater
waterfall. Deep ocean current water eventually returns toward the
surface forming a huge, slow conveyor belt of moving water. It
takes 1000 years for water to travel the path shown below. The
surface water of the North Atlantic Gyre is on a much quicker
circulation pattern taking only three years.
122
123
Wind
What is wind? Wind is the flow of air that occurs as a result of unequal pressure
in the atmosphere. Wind flows from an area of high pressure to an
area of low pressure.
Heating and The Sun warms Earths surface. Air near the warmed ground
cooling expands and becomes less dense. The less-dense air rises.
Surrounding air is drawn in to take the place of the air that rose
from the ground. Eventually the warm, less-dense air from the
surface cools. The same chain of events that made the air rise now
works in reverse and the air sinks back to the ground.
Unequal pressure When warm air rises from Earths surface, an area of low pressure
is created. This lower-pressure area draws in air from surrounding
higher-pressure areas. Eventually the warm air that rose from the
surface cools and becomes denser. This dense, cool air sinks back
to the surface causing an area of high pressure. This new high
pressure may become the source of more wind.
Thermals A small upward flow of warm air is called a thermal. Gliding birds
like hawks often ride a thermal as they hunt for food. Pilots of
sailplanes (which lack an engine) fly by riding the same thermals
that gliding birds do (Figure 6.7). In fact, the pilots look for gliding
birds to find these invisible air currents. Thermals are usually not
stable and come and go over a short period of time.
124
equator tends to rise and flow toward the poles. Cooler, denser air
from the poles sinks and flows back toward the equator.
convection.
125
How much water Since air often contains water vapor it is helpful to compare an air
vapor can air mass to a sponge. Warm air is like a big sponge that can contain a
hold? lot of water vapor. Cold air is like a small sponge that can contain
less water vapor. Air that contains the maximum amount of water
is saturated. Like a soggy sponge, saturated air cant hold anymore
water vapor. If more water vapor is added to saturated air, the
water vapor will turn back into liquid and form droplets.
Relative humidity Relative humidity is a measure of how much water vapor an air
mass contains relative to the total amount of water vapor it could
contain at a certain temperature. Lets say a warm air mass
contains twenty-five percent of the total amount of water vapor it
could contain. If this warm air mass cools, its volume will get
smaller. However, the air mass will have the same amount of
water vapor. Therefore, the relative humidity value increases.
126
Rain
How does rain Rain is the result of a cooling air mass. As the temperature of the
form? air mass decreases, it gets smaller. At some temperature, the air
After rain Suppose an air mass passes over warm ground after it has rained a
lot of water. The air mass now contains only a little water vapor. As
the temperature of the air mass increases, it gets bigger but the
amount of water vapor it has stays the same. Therefore, the
humidity of the air mass is extremely low.
From the ocean Warm, moist air crosses over the Pacific Ocean and reaches the
over a mountain coast. At first the air mass flows up the western side of a mountain
which has a lot of trees and plants. Cool temperatures at the top
of the mountain cause the mass to decrease in size so that water
vapor becomes first a cloud and then rain droplets. The resulting
cool, dry air mass sinks down the eastern side of the mountain into
warm temperatures. The land that this dry air passes over will
have a dry climate.
127
Weather
What is weather? Weather is caused by the effects of wind, water, temperature, and
atmospheric pressure. The weather in a certain location is another
way of describing what the atmosphere is doing at a certain time.
Weather The oceans are the most important source of water vapor in the
transports heat atmosphere. Huge amounts of water vapor formed by evaporation
energy near the equator carry tremendous amounts of heat energy. The
water vapor forms clouds and releases heat energy wherever it
changes back into rain (liquid water). In this way, wind systems
carry moisture and work with surface ocean currents to move
large amounts of heat energy all over Earth.
Weather vs. What is the difference between weather and climate? Both terms
climate describe the temperature, precipitation, and wind that we feel.
meteorologist - an individual
who uses scientific principles to
forecast the weather.
What is a When you hear the word meteorologist, do you think of a television
meteorologist? weather reporter? Many radio and television weathercasters are
professional meteorologists, but others are reporters who are
passing on information provided by the National Weather Service
or private weather forecasters. A meteorologist is a person with
specialized education who uses scientific principles to explain,
understand, observe, or forecast Earths weather. A meteorologist
has a bachelors degree (or higher) from a college or university.
Many meteorologists have degrees in physics, chemistry,
mathematics, and other fields.
128
129
Chapter 6 Connection
Neither rain nor sleet nor cold shall keep a mail carrier from
doing his job (or you from walking the dog). The same can be
said of your local meteorologist. Every day meteorologists
broadcast weather reports. Millions of people plan what they
will wear, what they will do after work or on the weekend,
and if they will carry their umbrellas based on those reports.
But only a very few
meteorologists in the United
States wear a microphone or
appear on camera at work.
Most meteorologists work for
the National Weather Service
(NWS), a government agency
that is part of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).
NOAA was formed in 1970, and its mission is to predict
changes in the atmosphere and ocean environments. This
task includes predicting the weather.
Meteorologists observe and study Earth's atmosphere and its
phenomena. Many work to forecast the weather and
changing climate conditions, while others do scientific
research. They try to understand how atmosphere affects
environment. They study the constant changes in our
atmosphere. They create computer models to predict how
storms will form, when rivers will flood, and what areas will
suffer droughts. Their work can go far beyond telling an
audience whether it will be sunny or cloudy tomorrow.
Meteorologist at work
Julie Dian is a meteorologist who works at the National
Weather Service Ohio River Forecast Center in Wilmington,
Ohio. One of her responsibilities is to compare readings of
temperature, winds, atmospheric pressure, precipitation
130
Chapter 6 Connection
Dian uses a
theodolite to
track balloons
that have been
launched from
her center. A
theodolite is a
surveyor's
instrument for
measuring
angles and, in
this case, for
following the altitude and movement of the balloon. In this
photo, Dian shows a student the radio theodolite at the NWS
office. In her left hand she holds an unopened weather
balloon. The theodolite in the photo shows the wind speed at
different altitudes. Some theodolites contain telescopes,
others have radio receivers.
Questions:
1. What is the mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration?
2. What causes weather balloons to grow in diameter from 2 to
6 meters?
3. Why are today's weather forecasts more accurate than in the
past?
131
Chapter 6 Activity
Materials
Bathymetric map and colored markers or pencils (red, blue,
and black)
132
Chapter 6 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences.
surface ocean current
rotation
thermals
evaporation
convection cells
water vapor
revolution
rents
climate
weather
meteorologist
gyre
wind
12. _____ are large wind loops that are heated and rise at the
equator and cool and sink at higher latitudes.
13. A _____ uses scientific principles to forecast Earths
weather.
Concepts
Section 6.1
Section 6.1
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Section 6.2
3.
4.
5.
6.
Section 6.3
7.
8.
9.
133
6.
Section 6.2
a.
100
7.
b.
1000
8.
Earths oceans:
c.
a.
d.
10
b.
c.
9.
10. What two factors cause the Gulf Stream to move away from
the equator?
19. What is the relative humidity of an air mass that has just
produced rain? High or low?
20. For each of the following statements write whether it
describes the weather or the climate for an area:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
15. Why is the equator a low air pressure area? Does air rise or
sink at the equator?
h.
134
CHAPTER 6 ASSESSMENT
5.
Section 6.1
1.
b.
c.
40 degrees Celsius
2.
3.
If
the
floating
toys
traveled at 7 miles per
day. How long would it
take to travel 700 miles?
b.
Section 6.3
Number of years
Number of days
6.
7.
8.
Number of hours
Section 6.2
4.
135
136
Chapter 7
Science fiction Jules Verne wrote popular science-fiction books in the mid-1800s
(Figure 7.1). Verne was popular among readers because he
researched his topics and wrote stories that could have been true.
In 1864, he wrote A Journey to the Center of the Earth. The main
characters were three adventurers who explored a hollow Earth
and lived to tell their tale. Along the way, they:
138
Wave motion
A push moves Imagine a line of students waiting for a bus. A student at the end of
along a line the line falls forward and bumps into the student in front of him
before righting himself again. This causes that student to bump
into the next student. The bumped student bumps another student
and so on along the line. Each student in the line falls forward,
bumps the next student, then rights himself. Eventually, the
student at the head of the line feels the push that began at the
end of the line.
Forward-and- The push or disturbance that traveled down the line of students
backward motion is an example of forward-and-backward wave motion. The student
at the end of the line was still at the end of the line when the
student at the front of the line felt the push. The disturbance
traveled down the line while the students kept their places.
A domino wave A line of dominoes also illustrates how a disturbance can travel.
The first domino is pushed and soon the last domino falls over, even
though it is far from the first one! However, a line of dominoes falls
in one direction without any forward-and-backward motion.
Figure 7.2: Up-and-down and sideto-side motion.
Up-and-down and Other kinds of wave motion are up-and-down and side-to-side
side-to-side motion (Figure 7.2). You are probably familiar with the up-andmotion down motion of water waves in a pool. You can demonstrate side-toside wave motion by wiggling a rope.
139
These waves are usually called by their first letter, P-waves and
S-waves. P-waves travel faster than S-waves and move with a
forward-and-backward motion. Slower S-waves travel with a sideto-side motion. S-waves do not pass through liquids, unlike Pwaves which pass through solids, liquids, and gases.
Waves tell us As P-waves and S-waves travel through Earth, they might be bent,
about Earths bounced, sped up, or slowed down depending on the nature of the
interior material they encounter. By studying what happens to the waves
on their path through Earth, scientists are able to make detailed
maps of Earths interior.
A clue from Here is a simple example of how scientists use seismic waves.
S-waves Scientists observed that when S-waves are produced on one side of
140
141
142
What is Earths In the simplified view of Earth, the mantle is the layer between the
mantle? crust and the core. The simplified mantle includes the upper and
lower mantle of the detailed view, and is about 2,900 kilometers
thick. Mantle material is warm and soft enough to flow. The lessdense crust floats on the mantle!
Lithosphere The lithosphere includes the crust and a thin part of the mantle.
This thin, outer-most mantle is called the upper mantle. The plates
that move about Earths surface are pieces of lithosphere.
Aesthenosphere The aesthenosphere lies just under the lithosphere and is the
outermost part of the lower mantle. The aesthenosphere is a slushy
zone of hot rock with a small amount of melted rock. This part of
the lower mantle is important because the lithospheric plates slide
on it. The aesthenosphere is 100 or more kilometers thick under
oceans, and much less under continents.
Lower mantle In the simplified view of Earth, the mantle includes everything
below the crust and above the core. The detailed view of Earth
separates the mantle into the upper and lower mantle. The lower
mantle includes the aesthenosphere. The lower mantle is the
largest part of Earths interior. Although the lower mantle is made
of rock, it is warm. Because it is warm, it is plastic. Plastic here
means that the lower mantle flows slowly rather than breaking.
143
The core
What is Earths The core is the name for the center of Earth. In the simplified,
core? traditional view of Earth, the core is a single central ball. The
detailed view divides the core into two layers, the inner and outer
core. The material that makes up the core is denser than the
material in the mantle. The core is also an extremely hot place!
Earths temperature increases from the crust to the core.
Outer core Seismic S-waves show that the outer core is liquid. The outer core
is made mostly of iron, and is so hot the iron is melted. Powerful
electric currents are formed as the liquid outer core moves. These
electric currents create Earths magnetic field. This magnetic field
protects the planet from harmful solar radiation (Figure 7.6). It
also protects the atmosphere. Life on Earth would be in danger if
the outer core cooled and stopped moving.
Inner core The inner core is also made mostly of iron, but it is solid. The inner
core is also hot enough to melt iron, so why is it solid? Melting
depends on pressure as well as temperature. The pressure at the
inner core is so enormous that iron, and the rest of the inner core,
remains a solid.
144
The plates that move about Earth's surface are pieces of the
______________.
145
Density (g/cm3)
aluminum
2.7
silicon
2.3
iron
7.9
water
1.0
Earths crust Earths crust is made of different types of rock that are less dense
floats on the than the mantle. Oceanic crust is made of basalt and is slightly
mantle denser than continental crust. Continental crust is made of mostly
andesite and granite (Figure 7.9). Oceanic crust is thinner than
continental crust, but both kinds of crust float on the mantle.
Rocks float on We tend to think that rocks are all the same. Its hard to imagine
rocks! rocks floating on other rocks, but this is what happens inside
Earth! The cold brittle rocks of the crust float on the hot, soft, and
denser rock below.
Figure 7.9: The oceanic crust is
146
Floating continents
How is a Imagine stacking blocks on a toy boat floating in a pool. As you add
continent like a blocks, the stack gets higher and heavier. The extra weight presses
boat? more of the boat into the water to support the stack. The finished
stack stands taller than the original boat, but the boat is also
deeper in the water.
Mountains on Earths crust floats on the mantle just like the boat. A mountain on
continents land is just like the stack of blocks (Figure 7.10). Like the boat, the
crust with a mountain sticks down into the mantle. The average
thickness of continental crust is 30 kilometers, but the combination
of a mountain and its bulge underneath may make the crust as
thick as 70 kilometers.
Glaciers on During an ice age, the weight of glacial ice presses down the crust
continents just like a mountain. After the ice age ends and the glacier melts,
the crust springs back up again (Figure 7.11). Scientists studying
shorelines have detected these up-and-down movements.
147
Convection
Convection in the Most of the remaining heat from the formation of our planet lies in
lower mantle the core. The hot core heats the lower mantle where the two layers
come together. Can you predict what happens next? Heating the
lower mantle causes the material to expand. The mass doesnt
change, but the volume increases. This makes the heated material
less dense. You know that less dense objects will float in more
dense fluids. The result is a plume of hot lower mantle material
rising up from near the core toward the lithosphere.
with paper and pencil. Today the tools are much better. Electronic
detectors provide much more information about seismic waves.
But the real improvement is in the use of computers and the
invention of seismic tomography by Dr. Adam Dziewonski of
Harvard University. Seismic tomography uses seismic waves
collected from all over the world to create a three-dimensional
image of Earths interior (Figure 7.13). This process is similar to
using many x-ray sensors to create a CAT scan of someones head.
CAT stands for computer-assisted tomography. A computer
combines the signals from these x-ray detectors to produce a threedimensional image of the inside of the patients head.
148
149
Chapter 7 Connection
How do you get to the heart of the matter on this planet? It's
deep down there, nearly 4,000 miles (about 6,500 kilometers)
beneath your feet. If we could somehow reach Earth's core,
from there every direction would be up.
We may never reach that center core, but scientists are
always getting closer. For the first time, people have drilled
into the lower section of Earth's crust. Just getting through
the planet's outer layer was a huge job: eight 0weeks of
drilling a hole in the ocean floor.
Scientists will not stop there. They hope to break into the
upper mantle, the layer just beneath the crust, some time in
the coming years. That is one of the goals of the Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program (IODP).
150
Even at that depth, the Moho was not reached. Still, the rock
that was drilled out taught us new things about the
complexity of the planet's structure.
Questions:
1. What is the IODP and what is one of its goals?
2. Has the IODP succeeded in reaching its goal? Why or why
not?
3. What is the Moho?
4. Which layer of Earth makes up nearly 80 percent of its total
volume?
5. What has convinced researchers that Earth's core is spinning
faster than the planet's surface?
Chapter 7 Connection
151
Chapter 7 Activity
5. Now take the plastic spring and tape one end to one end
of the metal spring. The two springs represent two
different materials. This demonstration will show what
happens when wave energy passes through a boundary of
two different materials, like different layers in Earth.
Generate both P- and S-waves as you did before using the
metal spring. Watch as the wave motion travels through
to the plastic spring. Answer question f.
Materials
152
Chapter 7 Assessment
Vocabulary
Concepts
Section 7.1
seismologist
crust
seismic waves
lithosphere
core
P-waves
mantle
S-waves
disturbance
Section 7.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Section 7.2
6.
7.
8.
Made of the crust and upper mantle, the _____ makes up the
plates that move about Earth's surface.
9.
a.
b.
c.
Forward-and-backward motion
d.
Side-to-side motion
e.
Slower
f.
Faster
Section 7.2
5.
6.
7.
8.
The inner core is really hot but solid. Why isnt the inner
core a liquid like the outer core?
153
Section 7.3
9.
With all the layers that make up Earth, which layer is the
densest and which is the least dense? Why?
10. List the differences between the continental crust and the
oceanic crust.
1.
154
2.
3.
14. The rock of the ocean floor, basalt, is slightly _____ than
granite, the rock of the continents.
(a) denser
a.
b.
CHAPTER 7 ASSESSMENT
Section 7.2
4.
5.
Scientists have only been able to drill into the lower part of
Earths crust. What percentage of the radius have scientists
drilled into?
(a) 100%
(b) 50%
(d) 25%
6.
7.
8.
2.
Section 7.3
9.
2.7
silicon
2.3
iron
7.9
water
1.0
155
Plate Tectonics
and Earths Structure
Chapter 8
Plate Tectonics
Chapter 9
Earthquakes
Chapter 10
Volcanoes
THIS AT HOME
Find five rocks near your house. Wash off any soil
that is on the rocks. Study them and describe each
rock in a short paragraph. What colors do you see?
Do you see layers or crystals? Compare your rocks.
Are they the same kind or different?
Chapter 8
Plate Tectonics
In this chapter, you will learn about one of the most
important discoveries of the 20th centuryplate tectonics.
You have already learned about Earths surface and that it is
covered with a lithosphere that is broken into pieces called
plates. Plate tectonics is the study of the movement of these
plates. It is a relatively new field of study. Scientists have
only arrived at our current understanding of plate tectonics
over the past 40 years. This is a very short time in science
years!
Movement of continents
Continental drift Alfred Wegener was a German climatologist and arctic explorer
who suggested the concept of continental drift. Continental drift
is the idea that the continents move around on Earths surface.
What is plate In Chapter 1, you were introduced to plate tectonics, the study of
tectonics? lithospheric plates. You learned that the surface of Earth is
broken into many pieces like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Plate tectonics
describes how these pieces move on Earths surface. By the time
you finish this chapter, you will know more about this theory than
any scientist knew only forty years ago. Wow! Additionally, you
will learn that the development of this theory is an excellent
example of how the scientific process works. Now, lets return to
Wegener and his idea of continental drift.
158
A good Wegeners belief that the continents had been connected in the past
hypothesis was a good idea. It was a scientific hypothesis based on
observations.
Continental drift Continental drift was a good hypothesis that was rejected by other
was rejected scientists. A key part of Wegeners hypothesis was that some
unknown force had caused the continents to slide over, or push
through, the rocky bottoms of the oceans. Yet, neither he nor
anyone else could identify the source of the force needed to move
continents. Continental drift helped explain issues in geology
like why South America and Africa seem to fit together. However,
continental drift could not be accepted by scientists because there
was no evidence to explain how continents could move.
159
160
large areas of the ocean floor were mapped for the first time.
American geophysicist and Naval officer Harry Hess did some of
the mapping. His work helped develop the theory of plate tectonics.
Mid-ocean ridges The naval maps showed huge mountain ranges that formed a
continuous chain down the centers of the ocean floors. These
mountain ranges are called mid-ocean ridges. Hess was intrigued
by their shape and location. He wondered if it was possible that
new ocean floor was created at the mid-ocean ridges. If new ocean
floor formed at the ridges, then continents on either side would get
pushed apart during the process (Figure 8.3).
Figure 8.3: Harry Hess wondered if
161
sea-floor spreading - a
hypothesis that new sea floor is
created at mid-ocean ridges and
that in the process the continents
are pushed apart from each other.
A good idea Sea-floor spreading was an attractive idea. But for many
needs more years scientists had viewed the continents as fixed in place.
evidence They felt that their shapes were due to causes that did not
involve moving. Sea-floor spreading would need strong
support before it would be more than geo-poetry.
Magnetic The key was the discovery that there are patterns (called
patterns and the magnetic patterns) in the rocks on either side of the midage of rocks ocean ridges (Figure 8.4). Scientists were able to read these
patterns. They determined that on either side of a midocean ridge, the oldest rocks were furthest from the ridge.
They also found that the pattern on one side of a ridge
matched the pattern on the other side. These patterns
showed that Hess geo-poetry was correct. New ocean floor
is formed at mid-ocean ridges and the new floor moves away
from the ridge as time passes.
162
Plate tectonics Science is a process that builds on itself. Early discoveries provide a
answers other better understanding that leads to more discoveries. The evidence
questions that Alfred Wegener collected to support an ancient supercontinent
163
164
165
b. outer core
d. aesthenosphere
166
divergent boundary - a
Moving plates
Three types of Imagine a single plate, moving in one direction on Earths surface
boundaries (Figure 8.6). One edge of the platethe trailing edgemoves away
convergent boundary - a
lithospheric plate boundary where
two plates come together.
How plates move Earths surface is covered with lithospheric plates. Unlike our
relative to each single imaginary plate, the boundaries of real plates touch each
other other. Plates move apart at divergent boundaries, collide at
167
Divergent boundaries
New sea-floor at Divergent boundaries are found in the ocean as mid-ocean ridges.
mid-ocean ridges A divergent boundary is the line between two plates where they
are moving apart. This type of boundary is found over the rising
plume of a mantle convection cell. The convection cell causes the
two plates to move away from each other. As they move, melted
rock fills the space created by their motion. The melted rock
hardens and becomes new ocean floor. This process is how new
Earth surface is created!
168
Convergent boundaries
Trenches When oceanic plates collide, one subducts under the other. This
forms a valley in the ocean floor called a trench.
Why does one A denser plate subducts under a less dense one. Older plates are
plate subduct cooler plates, and therefore denser than younger plates. So we can
under another? say that older plates tend to subduct under younger plates.
Oceanic and What happens if an oceanic plate and a continental plate collide?
continental plate Continental plates are largely made of andesite and granite.
subduction Andesite and granite are much less dense than the basalt of oceanic
plates. Which plate would subduct? Youre on the right track if you
realized that the oceanic plate must subduct under the continental
plate. A continental plate is simply too buoyant to subduct under
an oceanic plate. A good example of this is the Nazca Plate off the
coast of South America. The Nazca Plate is subducting under the
South American Plate (Figure 8.7).
169
170
Zones of activity One reason for the difficulty in locating transform faults is that
they are not single straight lines of movement. Transform faults
are usually branched and often change location with time. Its
helpful to think of transform faults as a zone of motion rather than
a line that separates two plates.
Zig-zags are Sometimes the action of a transform fault will form a small valley
clues along the line of movement. Often there will be ponds along the
Earthquakes are The best way to detect transform faults is by the earthquakes they
another clue cause. Movement along a transform fault causes the vast majority
of earthquakes. For example, the San Andreas Fault is a wellknown fault that causes earthquakes in California (Figure 8.10).
The San Andreas Fault is the boundary between two lithospheric
platesthe Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.
Using plate
tectonics to
understand other
events
171
Study the map. Can you identify the labeled plate boundaries? Use
the arrows on the map to help you. Remember that the three types
of plate boundaries are divergent, convergent, and transform.
Then, see if you can answer the question.
172
173
Heat and
pressure at
subduction
zones
Heat and
pressure when
continents
collide
174
7.
8.
175
Chapter 8 Connection
176
oldest are nearly 38,000 years old. This site has provided
fossils of over 500 mammal, bird, insect, and plant species.
Smilodon californicus
Do you know your state flower? Your state bird? How about
your state fossil! Not every state has one, but in Alaska and
Nebraska, for instance, the state fossil is the woolly
mammoth. Montana and New Jersey share the duck-billed
dinosaur. California adopted the saber-toothed cat,
Smilodon californicus, in January 1974.
The word Smilodon means knife tooth. The Smilodon had
7-inch-long saber-like canine teeth. It was about 4 or 5 feet
long, about 3 feet tall, and weighed over 400 pounds. It was
not as large as todays lion, but weighed more. It did not run
fast, but could pounce upon its prey. Smilodon is the second
most common mammal found at La Brea.
Questions:
1. What is an ice age and when did the most recent ice age
occur?
2. What is a fossil and why are fossils relatively rare?
3. Why are the tar pits of Rancho La Brea so rich with fossils?
4. Name several ice age fossils and where they have been
found.
Chapter 8 Connection
177
Chapter 8 Activity
Materials
Pieces of paper (copy paper, construction paper, or
newsprint), staples and a stapler, glue, colored pencils and
markers, pens, scissors, old magazines, and any other
material you need to make your book
178
Chapter 8 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences.
Pangaea
oceanic plates
mid-ocean ridges
mantle plume
trench
lithospheric plates
subduction
plate tectonics
sea-floor spreading
continental plates
continental drift
metamorphic rock
Section 8.1
1.
2.
3.
Concepts
Section 8.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
Section 8.2
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Section 8.2
5.
6.
7.
179
8.
Where would you find the oldest rocks on the sea floor?
Where would you find the youngest rocks?
9.
4.
2.
3.
One piece of paper will be folded back to the left of the slit
and one will be folded to the right of the slit.
4.
Use your red marker to color the paper that is showing (on
both sides of the slit). Optional: Write the year you were
born on this stripe.
5.
a.
6.
7.
Continue to pull the paper through the slit and coloring the
strips (in alternate colors), until you almost run out of
paper. You have now created a model for sea-floor
spreading. Optional: Keep writing the year on each stripe.
This shows that the older stripes end up further away from
the ridge and the youngest are closest to the ridge.
8.
1.
Section 8.2
2.
b.
3.
180
Chapter 9
Earthquakes
Earth is not a solid ball. Rather, as you have learned, it has
different layers. And Earths surface is so interesting because
the outer shell of Earththe lithosphereis broken up into
pieces. As you learned in Chapter 8, these piecesthe
lithospheric platesmove! Scientists have learned that a
great deal of geologic action takes place at the boundaries of
these plates. How do scientists know where the plate
boundaries are? The quickest and easiest way to find plate
boundaries is to plot earthquakes on a map. This chapter is
all about earthquakes!
Stick-slip motion
Three conditions The scenario described above illustrates stick-slip motion
needed for (Figure 9.1), the same motion that causes earthquakes. Three
stick-slip motion conditions are needed for stick-slip motion:
1. Two objects that are touching each other where at least one of
the objects can move.
2. A force, or forces, that will cause the movement.
3. Friction strong enough to temporarily keep the movement
from starting. Recall that friction is a resistance to slip that
occurs when two objects rub against each other (Figure 9.2).
An everyday Can you identify these three things in the stuck-door example?
example The two objects are the door and its frame. The force that will
cause movement is you pulling on the door. The friction that made
the door stick was probably due to changing moisture in the house.
Moisture in a wooden door makes it swell so that it jams in the
door frame. You have to pull hard to overcome the friction, so that
when the door opens, you hear a loud noise as some of the energy
stored is released.
182
CHAPTER 9: EARTHQUAKES
Shallow and deep Earthquakes that result from movement in the crust are called
quakes shallow focus earthquakes because their focus is less than
183
Motion of the Figure 9.4 is a close-up of the slickensides looking to the right.
slickensides Look at the edge that is sticking out. This edge indicates that the
direction that the slickensides moved in the past was away from
you. The rock mass that weathered away would have been to the
right of the slickensides. The graphic below at the left gives you a
birds eye view of how these plates moved.
Looking at a
transform fault
boundary
184
CHAPTER 9: EARTHQUAKES
185
A plate is like a When one end of the shopping cart line is pushed, the carts on
long line of the other end of the line remain still for a moment. It takes
grocery carts some time for the first cart to push the second, the second to
push the next, and so on, until the last cart starts to move.
Since a plate is thousands of kilometers across, it can take a
long time for movement on one end of the plate to affect the
section furthest away.
The San Andreas For example, parts of the San Andreas Fault can be stuck
Fault together and other parts may creep along at any given time
186
CHAPTER 9: EARTHQUAKES
Earthquake Imagine two sections along the same transform fault boundary.
frequency and Both sections should move at the same rate (like a single line of
strength grocery carts). Lets say the first section has frequent earthquakes
One earthquake Imagine that it has been a long time since an earthquake has
may trigger released the potential energy in both sections. Then, an earthquake
others occurs in the first section, reducing its potential energy. The
movement of the first section may increase the stress and built-up
potential energy in the second section. This added stress may be
enough to trigger a new earthquake in the second section.
What happens A strong burst of shaking occurs during an earthquake. The second
during an longest ever recorded earthquake occurred in 1964 in Alaska and
earthquake? lasted for four minutes (Figure 9.9). Foreshocks are small bursts of
187
188
CHAPTER 9: EARTHQUAKES
Review of P-waves (primary waves) are faster. These waves push and pull on
P-waves and rock as they travel. The rock moves in the same direction that the
S-waves wave moves. After an earthquake, P-waves arrive first at any
How materials The speed of P- and S-waves is affected by the properties of the rock
affect seismic they pass through. They travel faster in cool material and slower in
waves hot material. Seismic waves may bend or be reflected when they
contact different materials. Liquidlike the liquid outer core of
Earthacts as a barrier to S-waves. P-waves pass through liquid.
Surface waves Waves on the surface, or body waves that reach the surface, are
called surface waves. Surface waves are slower than the slowest
body wave, but they are the waves that cause the most damage.
Surface waves can move up and down, almost like waves on the
ocean. They can also move from side to side, often causing buildings
to collapse.
189
seismograph - an instrument
that measures and records
seismic waves.
The order of In the image below, seismic waves of the Loma Prieta earthquake
seismic waves are recorded on paper wrapped around a large drum. Figure 9.11
shows that seismic waves can also be recorded by computers.
Looking inside Seismologists study the interior of our planet by observing the way
Earth seismic waves travel through Earth. This process is similar to
particular fault (like the San Andreas Fault), the deep lower
mantle convection currents, and other features of Earths interior.
190
CHAPTER 9: EARTHQUAKES
Seismic waves Like fast and slow race cars, P- and S-waves have
are like cars in a different speeds. Seismologists use the difference in
race the arrival time of these waves to calculate the distance to the
epicenter from the seismic station.
Three seismic Seismic stations can accurately determine the times of body
stations are wave arrival. However, a single station cannot determine the
needed exact direction from which the waves arrived. At least three
191
Station
name
Arrival time
Distance
difference
to
between Pepicenter
and S-waves
10 seconds
80 km
50 seconds
420 km
30 seconds
250 km
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
192
CHAPTER 9: EARTHQUAKES
193
The Moment Both the Richter scale and the Moment Magnitude scale rate the
Magnitude scale energy of an earthquake. The Moment Magnitude scale rates the
194
Magnitude
Effects
Micro
Less than
2.0
Barely felt
Very
minor
2.0 - 2.9
Minor
3.0 - 3.9
Light
4.0 - 4.9
No serious damage,
objects shake
Moderate
5.0 - 5.9
Major damage to
poorly-designed
buildings
Strong
6.0 - 6.9
Major
7.0 - 7.9
Great
8.0 - 8.9
Rare
great
9.0 or
greater
CHAPTER 9: EARTHQUAKES
I. Instrumental
II. Just perceptible
Ill. Slight
IV. Perceptible
V. Rather strong
VI. Strong
VII. Very strong
VIII. Destructive
IX. Ruinous
X. Disastrous
XI. Very disastrous
Xll. Catastrophic
Characteristic Effects
Not felt
Felt by only a few people, especially on upper
floors of tall buildings
Felt by people lying down, seated on a hard
surface, or in the upper stories of tall buildings
Felt indoors by many, by few outside
Generally felt by everyone; sleeping people may
be awakened
Trees sway, chandeliers swing, bells ring, some
damage from falling objects
General alarm; walls and plaster crack
Felt in moving vehicles; chimneys collapse;
poorly constructed buildings seriously damaged
Some houses collapse; pipes break
Obvious ground cracks; railroad tracks bent;
some landslides on steep hillsides
Few buildings survive; bridges damaged or
destroyed; all services interrupted (electrical,
water, sewage, railroad); severe landslides
Total destruction; objects thrown into the air;
river courses and topography altered
Approximate
Richter
Magnitude
1
1.5
2
3
4
5
5.5
6
6.5
7
7.5
195
Earthquakes The California coast lies along the San Andreas Fault
along a transform (Figure 9.19). This famous fault passes right through San
fault boundary Francisco and part of Los Angeles. These metropolitan areas have
196
CHAPTER 9: EARTHQUAKES
197
Chapter 9 Connection
What is a tsunami?
Tilly had just learned that underwater earthquakes could
cause tsunamis. Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning
harbor wave. Underwater earthquakes, landslides, and
volcanoes may cause tsunamis. Not every earthquake leads
to a tsunami. Yet, large ocean earthquakes that move the sea
floor up and down cause many tsunamis.
198
The tsunami waves did not start from one central location,
but occurred along the entire 750 miles of fault line. That is
why the waves affected so many areas of the world.
Questions:
Why did so many people die from the tsunami? Tsunamis are
rare in the Indian Ocean and a warning system was not in
place. The last major tsunami in the region was caused by
the 1883 volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia.
Chapter 9 Connection
199
Chapter 9 Activity
200
Chapter 9 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences.
earthquake
fault
Richter scale
surface waves
seismograph
body waves
epicenter
focus
Section 9.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
Section 9.2
5.
6.
7.
Section 9.3
2.
3.
When two plates slide past each other, what happens to the
crusts of these plates? What happens to the upper mantle
parts of these plates?
4.
5.
6.
What is a slickensides?
Section 9.2
7.
8.
9.
Section 9.3
8.
9.
Concepts
Section 9.1
1.
What is friction?
CHAPTER 9 EARTHQUAKES
201
6.
Section 9.1
1.
2.
3.
Section 9.2
4.
5.
7
3.6
0.34
202
CHAPTER 9 EARTHQUAKES
Section 9.3
7.
8.
Chapter ProjectDemonstrating
Liquefaction
First, gather the following items: brick, rubber mallet, water,
sand, a plastic bin. Place the bin on a table. Fill the plastic bin
2/3 full with sand. Pour water into the bin to just below the
surface of the sand. Hold the brick upright so that it represents a
tall building. Wiggle it into the sand so that it stands up on its
own.Using your mallet, tap the side of the bin repeatedly and
gently.Watch what happens to the sand and brick.
This model demonstrates what can happen when an earthquake
shakes an area that has been filled by humans, such as Boston's
Back Bay or the China Basin in the southeast portion of San
Francisco. There are several regions in the Bay Area of
California that have been filled to create land. They are all
susceptible to liquefaction.
Liquefaction occurs when the seismic waves travel through the
ground, the sandy soil is suspended in the water as the water
fills in all the spaces in between the soil particles. Now the soil
acts like a liquid and losing the ability to support buildings. The
soil and water engulf the buildings as they sink into the ground.
Chapter 10
Volcanoes
Our early ancestors created stories to explain volcanic
eruptions. For example, it was thought that the volcanic
island Vulcano off the coast of Italy was a smoke stack for
Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking. Today,
volcanic eruptions make the news when they occur. What do
you know about volcanoes? How do you think they are
connected to plate tectonics?
conduit at the vent. Magma may leave the vent gently, or with
violent force. Magma is called lava after it leaves the vent. Magma
may leave the conduit by moving sideways along weaknesses
between rock layers. This sideways movement of magma forms a
sill. Magma may also move upward in a sheet to form a dike. If a
sill or a dike breaks through to the surface, another vent will form.
204
Resurgent dome If magma begins to return back up the conduit, a mound called a
resurgent dome may form on the caldera floor. Another kind of
volcano, a cinder cone, may also form in the caldera. Youll learn
about cinder cones in Section 10.3.
Lava lake Water may fill the caldera forming a lake. Its also possible that the
magma may not drain completely. In that case, the caldera will
contain lava and become a lava lake (Figure 10.2).
205
described according to the phase they are in. The three phases are
active, dormant, and extinct.
Active volcanoes An active volcano is the most vigorous kind of volcano. Active
volcanoes are erupting or have erupted recently, and are expected
to erupt again in the near future. However, volcanic activity
during the life of a volcano doesnt last forever. Eventually, the
conditions that make a volcano active change and the volcano
becomes dormant.
206
Making magma
Where does Earths crust is so cool that its brittle. Nevertheless, hot, melted
magma come rock makes its way to Earths surface and comes out of volcanoes as
from? lava. What makes rock melt so that it becomes magma and then
explodes out onto Earths surface?
Temperature You know that heating ice, butter, and a lot of other solids will
make them melt. At high enough temperatures, solid rock will melt
too. However, the lithosphere is not hot enough to melt rock.
Pressure and There are two other ways to make rock melt that are very
water important. One way is to reduce the pressure. The other way is
to mix water with the hot rock. The conditions needed to melt rock
are very special and they exist inside our planet. They are listed in
Figure 10.4 and illustrated below.
Where does You will learn where magma is made in Section 10.3. For now, you
magma form? can make predictions about where the conditions for making
207
Volcano Trivia
208
209
drawn toward Earths surface. The rock of the lower mantle is hot,
flexible, and solid. This rock is solid because of the great pressure
of the layers above it. However, as the rock of the lower mantle
rises, the pressure drops and the material melts.
Basalt and silica The melted lower mantle material forms basalt
magma. Basalt is a dark-colored rock that is
not silica-rich. Silica makes magma thick and
sticky. Basalt magma is runny because of its low
silica content. Quartz is a mineral that you may
be familiar with. Quartz is made of silica.
210
Volcanic chains
Away from plate A volcanic island is not formed at a plate boundary. It forms as a
boundaries result of narrow mantle plumes bringing material from deep within
the lower mantle. The magma of both volcanic islands and midocean ridges forms as hot, but solid rock moves closer to Earths
surface. As the hot rock rises, the pressure drops, and the rock
melts, forming magma.
A volcanic island The melted lower mantle material forms runny basalt magma that
is born is less dense than the surrounding rock. The basalt magma melts
its way through the lithospheric plate above it. An underwater
volcano forms when the magma breaks through the surface of the
plate. If the eruption is strong enough, the magma will reach the
surface of the sea, forming a volcanic island.
Volcanic island The plate on which a volcanic island sits is moving, but the mantle
chains plumes stay in one place. The top of an established mantle plume is
called a hot spot. As the plate moves, it carries the volcanic island
away from the hot spot that formed it. Without the hot spot to
supply magma, the volcano becomes extinct. At the same time,
the hot spot begins to form a new volcano beside the old one
(Figure 10.7). In this way, a volcanic island chain is formed.
211
Island chains and By studying the direction, age, and length of a volcanic chain,
the speed of scientists can determine the direction and speed that a plate is
plates moving. The Hawaiian Chain shows us that the Pacific Plate is
moving northwest at nearly nine centimeters per year.
Adding to a To the southeast of the Hawaiian Chain, the mantle plume under
volcanic island Hawaii is making a new volcanoLoihi. Loihi is an undersea
volcano (Figure 10.7). When enough lava builds up so that Loihi
is above sea level, it will extend the eastern border of Hawaii!
212
Thick and sticky Through a complex process, the magma that forms volcanoes
magma in this way is rich in silica. Silica-rich magma is light in color,
thick, sticky, and less dense than basalt magma. When cooled, the
silica-rich magma forms granite and other closely-related rocks.
213
7. Which of the Hawaiian Islands formed first and how long ago
did it form?
8. What kind of geologic formation is Loihi? Is it a part of the
Hawaiian Chain? Explain your answer.
9. How have scientists figured out that the Pacific Plate is moving
at about 9 centimeters per year?
10. The Pacific Plate is moving at 9 centimeters per year.
a. How long will it take for this plate to travel 4.5 meters?
b. How far will the plate have travelled in meters after
3 years?
11. What are the names of the items (AC) on the graphic in
Figure 10.10?
12. Name a difference between an island chain and an island arc.
214
Types of magma
Silica in magma Remember, an important property of magma is how much silica it
has. One kind of magma has little silica and the other has a lot of
silica. Magma with little silica makes runny magma. Magma with a
lot of silica makes thick, sticky magma.
Dissolved gas in Another important property of magma is how much gas is dissolved
magma in it. Little dissolved gas makes magma that doesnt have bubbles.
This magma is flatlike soda that has lost its fizz. Magma with a
lot of dissolved gas is like soda before you open it. It can be bubbly
or, under the right conditions, it can explode out just like when you
open a shaken bottle of soda.
Quiet eruption
Explosive eruption
215
Fire fountains When low silica magma has high levels of dissolved gas, the gas
bubbles out as it reaches the volcano vent. The effect is identical to
shaking a soda bottle to produce a shower of soda. The high-gas
magma produces a spectacular fire fountain (Figure 10.11). The
spatters of glowing magma cool in the air and hit the ground as
solid lava cinders.
Cinder cones The lava cinders form a cone around the vent
called a cinder cone. Cinder cones are a
common form of volcano. They are often found
on the flanks of both shield volcanoes and
composite volcanoes (see the next page). Cinder
cones may also form in the caldera of dormant
volcanoes. Cinder cones are structurally weak
because they are simply a pile of rock bits.
216
Dissolved gas in When silica-rich magma is low in dissolved gas, the magma will
sticky magma come out like toothpaste and form volcanic glass, called obsidian.
Pumice and ash When a composite volcano cone bulges like this, either the eruption
will subside and the magma will return down the conduit, or the
cone will explode. The cone may explode near the vent, throwing a
column of gas and lava bits high into the atmosphere. The lava bits
puff up and rip apart as the dissolved gas expands inside each bit.
This puffing up action produces two forms of rock: pumice and ash.
Pumice is a dark rock with lots of holes. Pumice has a low density
because of its holes (which were made by air bubbles) and will float
in water. Ash is smaller, like fine sand. Because ash is so fine, it
drifts with the wind and may settle over a very wide area.
217
Explosive eruptions
Pyroclastic flows When a column of exploding material collapses, it races down the
side of a composite volcano as a pyroclastic flow. The speed (more
than a 100 km/h), force, and heat (greater than 500 C) of the
pyroclastic flow make it extremely destructive.
Lava bombs Blobs of glowing lava may be thrown far from the base of the
composite volcano. These blobs, called lava bombs, can be the size
of watermelons. Sometimes the composite volcano explodes again,
further down its side, adding more material to the expanding lava
explosion.
218
vapor into the atmosphere. This water vapor condenses and falls
into the ocean as rain. Or, the rain may fall on land and eventually
get deposited into the ocean by rivers or streams. Recall that when
rivers and streams are swollen by rain, they are able to carry
sediments and rocks into the ocean. In this way, the water cycle is
connected to Earth's geological cycle, a set of processes that keep
rocky material moving from place to place in and on Earth.
Water in In Section 10.1, you learned that water is important for making
volcanoes magma. Water combines with hot rock when a subducting plate
sinks into the mantle. The combination of water and hot mantle
rock has a lower melting temperature and the mantle rock melts,
forming magma. This magma rises forming a volcano.
Geysers and hot You learned about geysers and hot springs in Chapter 4. These
springs volcanic features are the result of water in the ground coming in
contact with magma-heated rock below the surface. The hot rock
heats the water. Whether a geyser or a hot spring forms depends on
the temperature of the rock, the amount of water present, and the
shape of the water passage. Water that evaporates from a geyser or
hot spring also becomes part of the water cycle (Figure 10.14).
219
Low
silica
content
High
silica
content
220
Crystal size Crystal size can tell us a lot about how a rock formed. Underground
magma cools slowly and produces large crystals. On Earths
surface, magma (lava) cools quickly and produces small crystals.
Basalt versus Basalt and gabbro are made from the same silica-poor basalt
gabbro magma. Basalt has fine crystals, but gabbro has large crystals. Can
you tell where these rocks formed? You are correct if you thought
that basalt is a surface-formed rock and gabbro is formed below
Earths surface.
Granite, rhyolite, Granite, rhyolite, and obsidian (Figure 10.15) all come from the
and obsidian same silica-rich magma. Granite cools underground and has
large crystals. Rhyolite cools on the surface and has fine crystals.
Obsidian cools so fast that it has no crystals. Obsidian is often
called volcanic glass.
Basalt, granite, You learned about the main rock types making up Earths crust
and Earths crust basalt and granitein Chapter 7. Basalt is the rock that makes up
oceanic plates and is more dense than granite. Basalt, as you just
learned, has fine crystals and is made from low-silica magma.
Granite makes up continental plates. It is less dense than basalt, is
made of high-silica magma, and has large crystals.
221
How gas in You have learned that silica makes magma thick and sticky. Silica
magma affects also prevents dissolved gas from escaping easily. The same magma
igneous rocks that produces granite, rhyolite, and obsidian can also produce
pumice. The difference is that the gas in the magma puffs up
before the pumice cools to a solid. Pumice is so light due to the
trapped bubbles that it floats. At the bottom of the page is an
image of a pumice mine (located near a volcano) where pumice is
harvested to make abrasive cleaning products.
Scoria is another gas-puffed rock. Scoria may be made of silicapoor basalt magma or silica-rich granite magma. Scoria has a
heavier, more crystalline texture than pumice.
Welded tuff The pyroclastic flow from a composite volcano eruption may form
a thick layer of hot cinders and ash. This layer is so hot that the
pieces become welded together. At first, there may be holes
between the pieces. But as the layer gets thicker, the holes become
flattened. This type of rock, called welded tuff, is often orange-tan
in color with small, flat streaks of obsidian in it (Figure 10.16).
Figure 10.16: This is a photograph
of welded tuff. The spaces made by gas
bubbles have been flattened by the
weight of material that pressed down
while the tuff was still forming.
222
b. Las Vegas
223
Chapter 10 Connection
224
Chapter 10 Connection
Questions:
1. Why does the Cascade Range have so many volcanoes?
2. Identify and describe two mainland U.S. volcanoes that
erupted in the 20th century?
3. What benefits resulted from the eruption of Mount St.
Helens?
225
Chapter 10 Activity
226
3. You may need to make a large sketch to figure out how all
the parts work together. Then, make a final version of
your diagram in color.
Chapter 10 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences. NOTE: Not all
terms will be used.
volcano
geological cycle
magma
pyroclastic flow
Ring of Fire
cinder cone
lava
extinct volcano
shield volcanoes
composite volcano
dormant volcano
magma chamber
volcanic neck
active volcano
volcanic island
resurgent dome
igneous rock
basalt
caldera
hot spot
lava lake
dormant volcano
silica
volcanic neck
lava bombs
lahars
pyroclastic flow
obsidian
water cycle
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Concepts
6.
7.
Section 10.1
Section 10.2
8.
9.
Section 10.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
Section 10.2
5.
CHAPTER 10 VOLCANOES
227
6.
boundary
came together
7.
8.
9.
What volcanic land feature has helped the east and west
coast of North America grow bigger?
1.
Section 10.1
Section 10.3
Section 10.2
2.
boundary
came together
228
CHAPTER 10 ASSESSMENT
3.
4.
e.
Section 10.3
5.
6.
7.
Section 10.4
8.
9.
c.
d.
229
The Shape of
Earths Surface
Chapter 11
Water
and Weathering
Chapter 12
Beaches
Chapter 13
Natural Hazards
THIS AT HOME
Find a plastic bin or a tray that can hold water.
In the center of the bin or tray, build a hill out of
small rocks, soil, and sand that you find
outside. After you have built your hill, blow on it
and see what materials move. You may want to
use a straw to direct the wind that you
Chapter 11
11.1 Weathering
Energy from the Sun warms and cools Earths surface. It melts and freezes water. It
even helps grow the tree roots that eventually can split rocks into pieces. In this
section, you will learn how tall mountain ranges eventually break down into the
smallest rock particles.
Mountains
Mountains Mountainsbecause they are so big and impressiveseem to be
change over time unchanging features in a landscape. However, mountains wear
down over time. In fact, due to the Suns energy, wind, and water,
mountains begin to crumble as soon as they are formed.
Old versus young An good example of old mountains are the Smoky Mountains
mountains which are part of the Appalachian Mountain range (Figure 11.1).
These mountains are very old. The Rocky Mountains in the
western United States are younger mountains (Figure 11.2).
How do these two mountain ranges differ?
What happens as At one time, the Smokies were as tall as the Rockies and also had
mountains age? sharp peaks. But, since the Smokies are 680 millions of years old
(hundreds of millions years older than the Rockies) the peaks have
worn down. Eventually, the Smokies will be no more than rolling
hills, and the Rockies will look like the Smokies do now.
232
Physical weathering
Weathering How is a large mountain broken down into tiny grains of sand? The
process of breaking down rock is called weathering (Figure 11.3).
Physical Physical forces may break or chip rocks into smaller pieces. This
weathering process is called physical weathering. Physical weathering may
break large blocks loose or chip away tiny grains, one at a time.
Frost wedging
11.1 WEATHERING
233
A U-shaped The image above is of a large valley that held a glacier during the
glacial valley last ice age. The valley floor rises up smoothly in a gentle curve to
the ridge above. From the side, this glacial valley is U-shaped.
Notice that the highest part of the ridge is rough. This is because
the glacier didnt get that high up before it melted. The change
from smooth to rough rock is the bathtub ring left by the glacier
that shows the highest point the glacier reached on the mountain.
234
Chemical weathering
Chemical Rock is also reduced to smaller pieces by chemical reactions
weathering between water and rock grains. This process is called
Physical and Both physical and chemical weathering can affect rock at the same
chemical time. Look at the picture below. Originally there were a few tiny
weathering cracks in the rock. Frost wedging probably opened up these cracks.
Now chemical weathering is changing the rock mineral so that the
sides of the crack are filled with loose grains. You can see the tufts
of plants growing in the loose grains of rock.
11.1 WEATHERING
235
Rockfalls Falling rock can break into very small pieces when it hits the
ground. The graphic below shows an example of rocks (and trees!)
affected by falling rock. Rockfalls can occur when a big chunk of
rock is split off of a large landform by frost wedging or root
wedging. Rockfalls speed up the weathering process by quickly
breaking up large pieces of a rock formation.
Figure 11.7: For the moment, the
236
a. millions of years
c. about 10 years
b. hundreds of years
d. one year
11.1 WEATHERING
237
What is sediment?
Where does Weathering breaks rock into bits and pieces called sediment
sediment come (Figure 11.8). When you sit on a sandy beach, you are sitting on
from? sediment that was once a rocky mountain top. How does sediment
Rivers and Wind erodes mountains and moves sediment, but not as well as
streams flowing water. Rivers and streams are bodies of flowing water that
carry sediment. A river is a large flowing body of water. A stream
is a small river. The path that a river or stream follows is called a
channel. As you will learn later, rivers and streams can have one
or more channels. Sediment carried by flowing water eventually
arrives at the lowest place that it can reach, such as a beach.
Then, the sediment is carried into the ocean water by waves.
238
Graded bedding
The speed of Figure 11.9 shows that you can tell the speed of flowing water by
flowing water the size of the rock pieces found on a stream bottom. A few years
before this picture was taken, knee-deep water was rushing around
the stump. Since then, the stream channel has shifted and the old,
now dry channel shows clues to how the stream once flowed.
Fast versus slow We can tell where the water flowed rapidly in the stream by the
water pebbles. Fast-moving water carries pebbles. The ground is cut away
on both sides of the stump. This means that water moved fast as it
flowed around the stump. In front of the stump though, the water
was very slow. Small grains of rock settled to the bottom of the
slow-moving water forming the sand shadow that you see here.
Sediment is When flowing water enters a lake or a pond, the flow stops and the
sorted by water water drops its sediment. First the largest grains settle to the
239
How rivers move The combination of cutting on the outside bank and extending the
inside bank moves the whole meander slowly down a river valley.
This process goes on continuously at each meander. If you could
watch a meandering river for a hundred years, you would see the
meanders making side-to-side looping motions as the meandering
river moves slowly down the valley.
meandering river.
240
meanders in the field to the right of the river? These dark traces
are called meandering scars.
What is a braided The channel of a meandering stream moves downhill with time,
stream? but it remains a single channel. In contrast, a braided stream has
1.
2.
241
b. sand
d. rock pieces
f. all of the above
larger rocks
fast-moving
slow-moving
smaller rocks
5. You notice that the bottom of a stream has large pebbles. What
does this mean about the speed at which the water is flowing?
6. A lake has one graded bedding pattern. Then, a rain storm
causes a stream to flow faster and deposit more sediment into
the lake. Draw what this would look like. Hint: Your drawing
should have two patterns, one on top of the other.
7. Imagine you could visit a meandering stream 200 years from
now. Make a drawing that shows what it would look like today
and then what it might look like in 200 years.
8. Now imagine that you could visit a braided stream 200 years
from now. Make a drawing that shows what it would look like
today and then what it might look like 200 years from now.
242
Shell particles Sedimentary rock can also be formed from the tiny shells of marine
form rocks plants and animals. As these organisms die, their shells sink to the
ocean floor and form layers of shell mud. Over millions of years,
these shell mud layers thicken and eventually become sedimentary
rock. Limestone, a sedimentary rock, is formed this way.
Fossils in Most fossils are found in sedimentary rock layers. This is true for
sedimentary two reasons. First, the processes that bring sediment together also
rocks bring together the remains of once-living things. Second, the
Fossil formation Fossil formation begins when an organisms body is quickly covered
in sediments from an event like a mud slide or a sand storm. Body
parts that do not rot quickly, like bones and teeth, are buried under
sediment layers. After a long time, chemicals in the bones and
teeth are replaced with minerals. This process results in a heavy,
rock-like copy of the original objecta fossil. Eventually, the
sediments and fossil are compressed into sedimentary rock
(Figure 11.12).
243
244
b. in Earths mantle
d. on a glacier
245
Chapter 11 Activity
246
Several million years ago, Earth's crust moved and the land
rose up to form the Guadalupe range, which is made of
Capitan Reef limestone. Weather caused erosion and
exposed the buried
limestone reef.
Most limestone caves are
created when surface
water seeps into cracks
and dissolves the
limestone. Surface water
includes rives, lakes, and
oceans, and it contains
carbonic acid, which
erodes limestone.
Limestone caves are
usually wet and contain
streams, lakes, or
waterfalls. But the caves
in the Guadalupe
Mountains are dry. So
how did the chambers of
Carlsbad Cavern form?
Rain, mixed with acid
from the air and soil, dissolved the limestone to create
chambers. Acid rain alone did not do all the work. Oil and
gas deposits located under the reef contained hydrogen
sulfide, which mixed with groundwater to create sulfuric
acid. Strong sulfuric acid dissolved the limestone, creating
large pathways. As the mountains lifted, the land rose above
the groundwater. The water drained awayleaving behind
all the caves and chambers.
Cave formations
The entrance to Carlsbad Cavern was created over the last
few million years. Erosion and collapsing land created a
natural opening. Then air was able to enter the cave. Water
from rain and snow combined with the air to dissolve the
cavern's calcite. Water also deposited calcite to create the
formations that decorate the cave. This process of creating
cave formations, or speleothems, began 500,000 years ago.
Questions:
Chapter 11 Connection
Carlsbad Cavern
contains the Big Room,
one of the world's
largest underground
chambers. The Big
Room is the largest
room in the cavern and
the largest cave
chamber in the United
States. It is located 754
feet below the surface,
is 25 stories high, and
is one-third of a mile
wide. Just how big is
the Big Room?
According to the
National Park Service,
it could hold about six
football fields. Visitors
reach the chamber by
elevator. Once there,
they can walk a
one-mile path that
circles the Big Room.
247
Chapter 11 Activity
248
Chapter 11 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences.
weathering
physical weathering
sedimentary rocks
frost wedging
chemical weathering
meanders
river
graded bedding
cross bedding
stream
direction of younging
channel
braided stream
Section 11.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
Concepts
Section 11.1
1.
2.
3.
4.
Section 11.2
5.
6.
5.
7.
6.
8.
Section 11.2
7.
8.
9.
9.
249
1.
Section 11.3
250
c.
CHAPTER 11 ASSESSMENT
2.
3.
5.
c.
d.
The table below shows how a river's volume of water flow (in
cubic meters per second) and amount of transported
sediment (in metric tons per day) change over eight months.
Height of pile
(centimeters)
Month
Sediment Load
(metric tons/day)
25
23
20
10
8
7
6
5
December
1.0
125
January
1.2
175
February
1.6
300
March
3.0
675
April
4.6
1500
May
3.2
1000
June
2.8
800
July
2.2
525
a.
Make a graph of the students data. Be sure to label the xand y- axes and give your graph a title.
b.
From the graph, what can you say about how the pile of
soil eroded?
c.
a.
b.
c.
Section 11.2
4.
a.
b.
d.
e.
251
Section 11.3
6.
7.
8.
Mudstone
Sandstone
Conglomerate
Limestone
252
Chapter 12
Beaches
You have learned that weathering eventually causes
mountains to become tiny pieces of rock called sediment. And
you have learned that streams and rivers carry this sediment
to bodies of water like ponds, lakes and oceans. This chapter
is a continuation of that story. Sediment that reaches the
ocean is first deposited on the beach. But beaches are just a
brief resting stop for sediment. After sediment leaves a beach,
it continues its journey to the deep ocean floor.
Onshore and Below the foreshore is the shoreface. The shoreface is always
offshore regions underwater. Passing waves affect the sediments of the shoreface,
especially the upper part nearest the beach. Waves smooth land
surfaces. Because waves have little effect on the lower part of the
shoreface, the surface of this region is bumpy. Anything that is on
the beach, foreshore, or shoreface is onshore. Anything beyond the
shoreface is offshore.
254
Tidal flats have Tidal flats, often part of salt marshes, are located in the intertidal
mud zone (Figure 12.3). However, tidal flats are different from beaches.
Tidal flats often have sandy areas, but most of a tidal flat is dark,
sticky mud. And the sticky mud can smell very bad! Why are tidal
flats different from beaches?
Why are tidal Tidal flats and beaches are both made of sediment. Streams and
flats and beaches rivers carry the sediment down from the mountains and other high
different? places. The sediment includes small, medium, and large particles
when it arrives at both areas. What happens to the sediment after
it arrives is what makes tidal flats and beaches different.
255
Waves at the If you have ever stood on a beach, you know that waves seem to
beach come in and go out from the edge of the beach. If you have swam at
the beach, you know it is a thrilling experience. As each wave
passes over you, you feel the strong rush of water. The rush and
crash of the waves churns the sandy ocean floor. Sand grains are
broken into smaller pieces.
256
Waves
Wind causes Ocean waves at a beach occur as a repeating pattern of wave crests
waves and troughs. A crest is the high point of a wave, and a trough is the
low point. The height of a wave is the distance between the wave
crest and trough.
Wave height The wind is the most common cause of ocean waves. The height of a
wave is influenced by:
The strength of the wind.
How long the wind blows.
How much open water the wind blows over.
Wavelength The distance between two wave crests is called the wavelength
of a wave. The ability of a wave to disturb the ocean bottom as it
approaches a beach depends on its wavelength. A passing wave can
reach down about half its wavelength. That means that a wave
with a wavelength of 10 meters can only disturb the ocean bottom
if it is five meters deep or less.
Waves stir up Most waves will reach deep enough to affect the part of the
sediment on the shoreface nearest the beach. The lower part of the shoreface is only
ocean bottom affected by the strongest waves with the longest wavelengths.
257
b. 6 meters
d. 24 meters
258
Winter waves are stronger than summer waves on the east and
west coasts of the United States. Gentle summer waves tend to
carry sand from deeper water onto beaches. The stronger winter
waves carry the sand back to deeper water (Figure 12.5). This backand-forth action creates two distinctly different environments on
the same beach, a summer beach and a winter beach (Figure 12.6).
What is a bony Waves that create summer and winter beaches are not the same
beach? year after year. Just like one summer may have a little more or less
rain than another, waves may be more or less energetic from year
to year. During the winter, the sand that is removed from the beach
winds up in sandbars, not too far out from shore. During a harsh
winter, the beach may be eroded by a series of very strong storms.
High-energy waves carry away more sand than usual, carrying
the sand further out from the shore. After a harsh winter, it may
take years for the beach to recover from the erosion. During this
recovery time, beach regulars will call it a bony beach because
the beach is full of rocks.
How does a On the other hand, the gentle waves of a mild winter may not
beach get too remove all of the summer sand. In this case, when the next summer
much sand? arrives, the beach may start out with an extra amount of sand, and
the summer waves will build up even more sand. After several mild
winters, the sand may reach unusually high levels.
259
Rivers and Beaches never completely wear away because rivers and streams
streams supply bring new sand from the mountains to the beaches. But this sand
new sand doesnt stay in one location. Instead, it flows along the coast.
What is A coast is the boundary between land and a body of water like the
longshore drift? ocean. This flow of sand along a coast is called longshore drift. The
beach sand that is lost to deep water is replaced by new sediments
flowing from a river or stream. Therefore, sandy beaches do not
stay the samethey are constantly changing due to waves,
longshore drift, and replenishment by rivers and streams.
260
261
What happens to When a jetty or breakwater is located off the coast of the ocean,
sand at a barrier longshore drift will be disrupted. Sand will quickly build up on the
side of the barrier where the waves first hit. At the same time, the
beach will erode away on the other side of the barrier.
Continental Eventually, beach sand finds its way to the edge of the continental
shelves and shelf and drops off into very deep water. Sand drifting down the
canyons steep face of a continental shelf cuts into the shelf just like
streams cut into valleys. These cuts are called submarine canyons.
As a canyon is cut, the cut grows in the direction of the shore.
Some canyons are so close to the shore that sand moving along the
coast by longshore drift lands in the canyon and gets deposited
directly into the deep ocean basins. Beaches can lose a lot of sand
quickly at submarine canyon locations.
262
12. Sand drifting down the steep face of a continental shelf creates
cuts or valleys, which over time, can migrate toward the coast,
becoming quick pathways for sand to move to deeper waters.
What are these valleys called?
12.2 WAVES SHAPE BEACHES
263
Chapter 12 Connection
Beach by beach
Keep in mind that winds, waves, tides, and currents all
changeand all change what a beach looks like. Its location
also changes a beachs size and shape, its sediment and color.
Look at the Pacific Coast in Oregon: Over eons, rock from
mountains was moved by rivers and slowly turned into
smaller sediment. The beaches may have fine sand or coarse
sand with cobblestones. Beaches in the rugged Northwest
are not as big as those on the Atlantic Coast; instead, many
264
small beaches and coves dot the coastline. Oregon has the
largest area of coastal dunes in all of North America.
Questions:
1. What factors influence wave size?
2. Why are West Coast waves bigger than East Coast waves?
3. Describe several big differences between East and West
coast beaches.
4. Explain why sand color may vary from beach to beach.
Chapter 12 Connection
Cape Cod in
Massachusetts was
shaped by large ice sheets
in the last ice age. As ice
melted, the sea level rose.
The action of water and
waves and tides loosened
and moved glacial
deposits to create sandy
beaches and bays.
265
Beach Trip
In this activity, you will go on a beach trip to make
observations. Among the things to take with youtake
what you have learned from this chapter and its
investigations!
Chapter 12 Activity
Materials
266
Observations
Cloud cover
Is it cloudy or clear?
Weather
What is the weather like?
Temperature
Is it cold, warm, or hot?
Waves
Are the waves big, medium, or small?
Sand
What color is the sand?
Describe the size and shape of the sand.
Animals
What animals do you see?
How many of each animal do you see?
Plants and seaweed
What kinds of plants and seaweed do you see?
Chapter 12 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences.
longshore drift
continental shelf
intertidal zone
marine
coast
beach
tidal flat
crest
trough
3.
4.
5.
wavelength
Section 12.1
1.
Sea water, a fish that lives in the ocean, and seaweed are all
part of the _____ environment.
2.
3.
The _____ lies between the high and low tide lines.
4.
5.
6.
The _____ is the high point of a wave while the _____ is the
low point.
Section 12.2
7.
8.
9.
Concepts
Section 12.1
1.
2.
Section 12.2
6.
7.
8.
9.
1.
For some people, the coast is their favorite place to be. Write
a paragraph or story about visiting a beach, intertidal area,
or tidal flat. Your story can be real or made up. However,
you must describe the appearance of the coastal area in your
story or paragraph.
CHAPTER 12 BEACHES
267
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Section 12.2
7.
268
Size and
shape of
the grains
Color or
colors of
the grains
CHAPTER 12 BEACHES
Quartz
(mineral)
Feldspar
(mineral)
Shell
fragments
Magnetite
(mineral)
Other types
of materials
What do your
observations tell you
about the how much
weathering by waves
occurs at this beach?
Chapter 13
Natural Hazards
Two great energy sources drive Earths processes. Energy
from the Sun drives the external energy system, while energy
from Earths hot core drives the internal energy system. Most
natural hazards are related to one of these two energy
systems. Natural hazards are events that can change and
damage human and animal habitats. Earths weather is part
of the external energy system. What natural hazards are
weather-related? The movement of the lithospheric plates is
part of the internal energy system. What kinds of natural
hazards are powered by Earths internal energy?
Two energy Most natural hazards are related to one of two energy sources
sources the Sun, or Earths hot core. Earths weather, driven by the Sun, is
part of the external energy system. Weather-related natural
hazards include hurricanes, flooding, and slumping. Plate
tectonics, driven by the hot core, is part of the internal energy
system. Natural hazards related to plate tectonics include
earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.
Earth science Earth scientists can provide life-saving information in the event of
helps people a natural hazard. For example, because it is unlikely that humans
will ever be able to stop a volcano from erupting, it is important to
understand how volcanoes work. A volcanologist is an earth
scientist who studies volcanoes (Figure 13.1).
Technology helps Satellite and computer technology, and good communication also
people help protect people from natural hazards. Communication systems
270
do you live? Whats the best thing about where you live? Whats the
worst? Its possible that a potential natural hazard may be the
worst thing, but it doesnt have to be. Its a good idea to study earth
science so you understand natural hazards and how to stay safe!
Staying safe The time line for a hazard affects how the government manages
resources to help the most people during a natural hazard. A
time line is a description of what will happen during a particular
event. Understanding the time line of a hazard is important in
order to be able to take steps to reduce risks so that people do not
get hurt and property is not damaged. For example, in an area with
earthquakes, it is important to follow a plan like the one in
Figure 13.3. But, the government has to be careful in how it issues
warnings about hazardous events. If a warning is issued too early
and the event doesnt happen, people may stop taking warnings
seriously! This could lead to people getting hurt if an event
eventually happens. As you read, ask yourself these questions:
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272
Hurricanes
Wind, waves, and Hurricanes start as tropical storms and form over oceans. With the
rain right ocean temperature, air moisture, and winds, a tropical storm
can become a hurricane. For a coastline, the arrival of a hurricane
means severe and dangerous winds, high waves, and a lot of rain.
Hurricane season During an average hurricane season (June 1 to November 30), six
How places are As long as hurricanes are at sea and away from ships, they are not
affected by threatening. Hurricanes become particularly hazardous to people
hurricanes and property when they arrive on land. Wind and waves damage
property, and heavy rains cause flooding. The strong waves are
called a storm surge. A storm surge is as dangerous as the wind so
it is always important to leave a coastal area when a hurricane
warning has been issued. After Hurricane Katrina, a storm surge
breached the levees between Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans,
causing about 80% of the city to flood.
273
274
Flooding
Rain causes Flooding commonly occurs when heavy rain or snowmelt add more
flooding water to a river than it can carry. The extra water overwhelms
River valleys and A river valley is created when rivers carve into mountains. Valleys
snowmelt are low-lying land features that are surrounded by higher land
Storm surges Storm surges from hurricanes and other storms can cause coastal
flooding. If these wind-driven waves occur at high tide, the
combination can raise the sea level high enough to flood towns and
cities that lie close to or below sea level.
Floodplains The area that floods near a river is called a floodplain. This area is
usually located some distance from the source (headwaters) of the
river. A flood plain is very good land for growing plants because
seasonal flooding of the river deposits nutrients in the soil.
However, because flooding occurs regularly, these areas are not
ideal for buildings and homes.
275
Slumping
The difference When soil is dry, friction between the grains of soil keeps it firm
between dry and enough that you can build a house on it. However, if the soil is wet,
wet soil the spaces between the grains are full of water. The water makes
the grains slippery and friction is a lot lower. Wet soil is squishy. If
you have walked on wet soil, you know that your feet sink into it!
276
Wildfires
Wildfire Wildfire is an unwanted fire that burns in a forest or other natural
area. Three ingredients make a firefuel, oxygen, and heat. Our
atmosphere is about 20% oxygen and a forest or grassland provides
a lot of fuel for a fire. Lightning and even volcanic eruptions can
provide heat to start fires. However, careless people start nine out
of ten wildfires! The number of wildfires started by people can be
reduced by educating everybody about fire safety.
Preventing forest You have probably encountered fire prevention rules if you have
fires visited a wilderness area. Often camp stoves are allowed at a
Fighting forest Rain is a factor in causing damage during hurricanes, flooding, and
fires slumping. However, rain can also help stop a forest fire. A heavy
rain can cause a forest fire to eventually die out. Hot, windy
weather makes fighting fires difficult. Fire crews try to stop fires by
removing fuel from their path. They do this by cutting or burning
away a line, called a firebreak in front of the fire (Figure 13.8).
Firebreaks are effective and are the first line of defense for
firefighters. But, firebreaks are easily jumped by a forest fire when
strong winds carry burning embers over them.
Beneficial fires Sometimes forest rangers and officials let fires burn a forest
because a fire can benefit a natural area. A controlled fire can burn
away dry, dead twigs that could fuel a large wildfire in the future.
Fires also cause some plant seeds to germinate and grow. After a
fire, the soil is filled with nutrients and supports new plant life.
13.2 NATURAL HAZARDS DRIVEN BY EXTERNAL ENERGY
277
278
Earthquakes
A sudden In Chapter 9 you learned that earthquakes are the result of sudden
movement in movement in Earths brittle crust. The energy released by this
Earths crust movement is carried by seismic waves. These waves cause sudden,
violent movement when they arrive at Earths surface.
Liquefaction Soil types can affect the amount of damage caused by earthquakes.
When seismic waves pass through the ground, the soil can act as a
liquid. This is called liquefaction (Figure 13.9).
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
caused a lot of damage in San
Francisco. The area most damaged
had been built on top of San Francisco
Bay mud.
279
Building height Taller buildings are often more susceptible to earthquake damage
When earthquake
vibrations match
the sway of a
building
Easily
damaged by
earthquakes
Earthquake
resistant
Brittle
building
materials
Flexible building
materials
brick
mortar
adobe
steel
wood
280
Tsunamis
A harbor wave Tsunami is a Japanese word that means harbor wave. Sudden
movements of the sea floor cause tsunamis. These movements may
be earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or sediments slumping on a
steep underwater face. You have learned that earthquake energy is
spread by seismic waves. In a similar way, energy from these
underwater movements is spread as a wave on the ocean surface.
Tsunamis in the In the open ocean, wind-driven waves and tsunamis are about the
open ocean same height. But the wavelength of a tsunami is much longer than
the wavelength of a wind-driven wave. The wavelength of a winddriven wave may measure 20 to 40 meters from crest to crest. It
may take ten seconds or so for a wind-driven wave to pass by.
Wind-driven waves are small splashes compared to tsunamis. The
wavelength of a tsunami is hundreds of kilometers long! Because
the surface of Earth is curved, you cant see enough of it to detect
the crest of a tsunami as it approaches! If a tsunami approached
your ship, you would see only a flat sea. As it passed under the
ship, the tsunami would cause the ship to rise gently, about ten
meters, and then gently settle back after several minutes.
Tsunamis in When a tsunami approaches land, the lower front edge of the wave
shallow water begins to drag on the shallow bottom. As the front slows, the back
of the wave catches up. This shortens the wavelength. Shortening
the wavelength makes the wave crest higher. Its this enormous
crest of water, often 20 meters high or more, that comes crashing
over beaches and harbors.
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Volcanic eruptions
Shield and Volcanic eruptions from shield volcanoes are mild because they
composite release runny lava. Of the 50 states in the U.S., only Hawaii has
volcanoes shield volcanoes. Active volcanoes found in the continental
states are all composite volcanoes located near plate
boundaries.
Predicting a lava Glowing lava from shield volcanoes moves slowly enough that
flow people can usually get out of the way. The path that lava will
take can be predicted from earlier flows and from maps that show
low areas that would make good pathways. The main threat posed
by lava flow is destruction of property. Anything that will burn
bursts into flame at the first touch of lava. Some structures are set
on fire just by radiant heat, before the lava even touches it. The
immediate danger passes after lava cools and becomes solid rock.
A town versus a Cooled lava may block or fill harbors, streams, and lakes. In 1973,
volcano lava from a volcano on Iceland named Eldfell (fire mountain in
Icelandic), was flowing toward an important fishing port near the
town of Vestmannaeyjar (Figure 13.12). Firefighters saved the
harbor by spraying the lava with water to cool and harden the
flow. Although the harbor was saved and few people were injured,
most of the town was destroyed. About 300 buildings burned or
were buried by the lava flow. The residents of the town rebuilt it
and used the cooling lava to create a heating system!
282
Pyroclastic flow Pyroclastic flow is many times more dangerous than lava flow. A
composite volcano sends an eruption column into the air. Shortly
afterward, a wave of hot, toxic gases, ash, and larger fragments
races down the side of the cone. The energy of this wave is
enormous. A tourist, driving his car as fast as he could, was unable
to outrun pyroclastic flow from the Mount St. Helens eruption. At
times he was going more than 90 miles per hour! He only lived to
tell about it because the flow stopped shortly after it caught up to
him. Pyroclastic flow is forceful as well as fast. In the same Mount
St. Helens eruption, hundreds of trees were knocked flat by the
force of the pyroclastic flow.
Pompeii The Roman town of Pompeii was overrun by pyroclastic flow when
Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E. Hot gases and ash quickly
suffocated the inhabitants. Several additional flows buried the
town under a thick blanket of ash. Pompeii remained buried until
art collectors and scientists began removing the ash 1,700 years
later. Hollow casts, formed by the bodies of the dead, were
discovered as the ash was removed. The casts were filled with
plaster so that today we can see these people in their last moments
(Figure 13.13). The force of the pyroclastic flow struck down people
who were outdoors. Many of the plaster casts show people shielding
their faces from the hot gases and ash.
Lahars Lahars are mudflows that result from water mixing with loose
material on the steep sides of a volcano. Lahars are common on
most composite volcanoes because these volcanoes have steep sides
with plenty of loose material on them. Because of their height,
these volcanoes also often get plenty of water in the form of snow or
rain. The mudflows of lahars can carry large boulders. Lahars can
be dangerous because they often follow riverways that lead to town.
The river path brings the lahar right into town, boulders and all!
283
284
hurricane
flooding
slumping
earthquake
tsunami
volcanic eruption
285
Chapter 13 Connection
286
Earthquake myths
Questions:
1. Where do earthquakes most commonly occur in the United
States?
2. What are the focus and main goals of the Southern California
Earthquake Center (SCEC)?
3. What information does the Southern California Integrated
GPS Network (SCIGN) provide researchers about
earthquakes?
4. How has the Internet become a valuable tool in earthquake
research?
Chapter 13 Connection
up? and Did objects fall off shelves? With all of this
information, the USGS efficiently produces maps of shake
intensities and damage. These Community Internet
Intensity Maps, or CIIMs, provide valuable data to
researchers.
287
Chapter 13 Activity
Materials
288
Chapter 13 Assessment
Vocabulary
Concepts
Section 13.1
landslide
wildfire
flooding
tsunami
liquefaction
slumping
natural hazards
tsunami
floodplain
hurricane
volcanic ash
landslide
1.
2.
3.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Section 13.3
7.
8.
9.
Section 13.2
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
289
Section 13.2
3.
Hurricane
Section 13.1
1.
b.
290
169
B
C
D
E
210
63
125
260
Category
CHAPTER 13 ASSESSMENT
Section 13.3
4.
5.
b.
The 1906 earthquake that destroyed old San Francisco was over in
minutes, but the fires raged on for three days. This is because when
earthquakes strike cities, fire often adds to the destruction. Gas pipes
are broken and electrical lines fall down. To make matters worse,
water mains often break so there is no water to fight the fires. Research
the San Francisco earthquake and create a time line for what happened
before, during, and after the earthquake.
The Roman town of Pompeii was overrun by pyroclastic flow when
Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E. Hot gases and ash quickly suffocated the inhabitants. Several additional flows buried the town under a
thick blanket of ash.
Others include:
The eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington in 1980.
The landslide that occurred near San Bernardino, California in December 25, 2003.
The 2004 Indonesian tsunami.
Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Flooding and landslides in Haiti in 2004 (aftermath of Hurricane
Jeanne).
Pakistan-India border earthquake that struck in October 2005.
291
Ecology
Chapter 14
Resources
Chapter 15
Ecosystems
Chapter 16
Biomes
THIS AT HOME
Wateran important resource in all
ecosystemscomes to your house through
pipes. Every month the water company
measures how much water you use and charges
you for it. Find out how much water your family
used last month by looking at the water bill.
Chapter 14
Resources
Hoover Dam, near Las Vegas, Nevada, towers more than 200
meters above the raging Colorado River. This gigantic
concrete structure is known as one of the greatest engineering
projects in the world. Hoover Dam is called a hydroelectric
plant because it turns the energy of falling water into
electricity. The dam is important to the American southwest,
because it brings water and electricity to millions of people.
Using a natural resource like water to make electricity is one
way to meet our growing demand for energy. What other
natural resources do we use in our daily lives? Read this
chapter to find out!
Natural resources
Material A natural resource is a feature of Earth that benefits people.
resources Earths natural material resources are things like air, fresh water,
and soil. What would happen if any of these resources were
missing? Study the scenes below and find the material resources.
How does each of these benefit people?
Energy resources Some natural resources are used to supply energy to our busy
world. Important energy resources are:
Energy Resources
the Sun
wind
moving water
Earths internal heat
294
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
tides
coal, oil, natural gas
nuclear (radioactivity from uranium)
biomass fuel (such as wood)
Electricity The first electric light company in the U.S. was started in 1878.
Since then, our use of electricity has grown each year. What do you
need to make electricity? You need an energy source. Earths
natural energy sources are used to make electricity. Think of all the
ways you use electricity each day. The average American household
uses about 10,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. How
much energy is that? If your body were able to utilize electricity as
an energy source (rather than food) that much energy could keep
you running for almost five months!
Transportation Electricity is not the only modern use of natural energy sources.
Transportation uses a lot of energy too. In the United States alone,
about 130 billion gallons of gasoline are consumed each year.
Where does gasoline come from? Gasoline is made from crude oil,
which is pumped out of the ground, either on land or from the ocean
floor.
Heating and In addition to being used for gasoline, oil can be used to heat
consumer homes. Petroleum is another name for oil, which is often used to
products heat homes. Petrochemicals are compounds made from oil.
Petrochemicals are used to make plastics, medicines, cosmetics,
and paints. Look around you now and see how many items are
made of plastic. It takes petroleum to make all of those things.
plastic
asphalt for paving roads
synthetic rubber
paraffin wax
fertilizer
detergents
photographic film
packaging materials
paint
carpet backing
synthetic clothing fibers such as
kevlar, nylon, polyester, acrylic,
and spandex
cosmetics
Make a sketch of one room in your
home, and label all of the things
made from petroleum.
295
2. List at least four major natural resources that you see in each
scene above.
3. What two things in our modern lives require a lot of Earths
natural energy sources?
4. What is gasoline made from?
5. What is a petrochemical? What types of products can be made
from petrochemicals?
6. What natural resource is plastic made from?
7. Study the bar graph in Figure 14.1 and answer the following
questions.
a. What type of information does this graph give you?
b. How would the graph look if many more people in the
United States used public transportation?
c. Americans love their cars. Does this graph support that
statement? Why or why not?
296
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Electricity is Electricity leaves the power plant and is carried to your house by
carried by wires wires. The fuel energy from the coal, oil, or natural gas changes its
form several times on the way to your home. With each change,
some energy is converted to heat. In fact, most of the energy that is
transferred from fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas will eventually
become heat energy. Some will be used, but most will be unusable.
297
Fossil fuels
The future of Nonrenewable resources like coal, oil, and natural gas are not
nonrenewable replaced as they are used. This means that someday we will not
resources have enough coal, oil, and natural gas to produce the electricity we
need. How are we preparing for the future when these resources
are no longer available? Perhaps we can use the energy of atoms,
wind, or sunlight. Did you notice the other category in the pie
chart above? Read on to find out about this category.
298
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
nonrenewable resource - a
natural resource that is not
replaced as it is used.
Advantages and The main advantage of using nuclear energy to produce electricity
disadvantages of is that it doesnt pollute the air like fossil fuel power plants do. We
nuclear energy will discuss the problems of pollution in the next section. There are
299
that can be used as energy sources. Figure 14.2 shows that nine
percent of all resources used to make electricity in 2004 were from
renewable resources.
Solar energy The Sun is our biggest source of light and heat. In fact, 99 percent
of the energy used to heat Earth and all of our buildings comes
from the Sun. The Suns energy is often called solar energy. A
solar cell can convert solar energy to electricity. Solar energy is
plentiful and clean. However, two of the biggest challenges with
using solar energy to make electricity are:
1. a backup energy source must be used on cloudy days
2. solar energy is very spread out, so it must be collected from a
huge area to be a significant source of energy
Wind energy A wind energy system captures the energy of motion from moving
air (wind) and turns the energy into electrical energy. California
was the first U.S. state to build large wind farms (areas where
wind turbines are located). Today, California produces more
electricity from wind energy than any other state in the U.S. In
fact, wind is the worlds fastest-growing energy source used to
make electricity. Wind is a clean, plentiful fuel source. What
disadvantages are there to using wind as an energy source? Well,
the wind does not always blow when electricity is needed, and
right now the cost of building a wind farm is greater than the cost
of building a power plant that uses fossil fuel to make electricity.
Other renewable It is also possible to use moving water (hydroelectric), hot spots
energy sources near Earths surface (geothermal), fuels made from once-living
300
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
301
Usefulness and If bicycles are so efficient, why dont we use them more, instead of
trade-offs automobiles, when we travel? You know the answer to that
302
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Comparing notes
For discussion Compare gasoline-powered cars to cars of the future. What will cars
of the future use for energy sources? What type of car will you drive
some day?
303
304
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Hybrid Cars
Air pollution Pollution is a change to the environment (air, water, or soil) that is
harmful to humans or other living things. Some changes to the air
can have harmful effects on humans and other living organisms.
Air pollution (Figure 14.4) is caused by tiny particles and gases
called emissions that are released into the air. What produces
emissions that pollute the air?
Reducing The United States government has passed laws to control the levels
pollution of emissions from power plants, factories, and motor vehicles. If you
use less electricity, you can help keep the air clean too.
305
Water pollution Earths water supply will stay steady, but the water that humans
can actually use is a precious resource which we must use with
care. Water can be polluted by changes that are harmful to people
or other living things. How does water get polluted?
towns and cities can pollute the fresh water supply with wastes
that are washed down sinks, toilets, and showers
industries like factories and power plants produce wastes that
can pollute water
pesticides and fertilizers from farms can end up in the water
supply
oil spills from large ships that transport oil across the oceans
can cause serious pollution problems
What can Using less water at home and at school can certainly help by
you do? putting less demand on the water supply. Also, never pour things
like paint, paint thinner, motor oil, or garden chemicals on the
ground or down the drain. Your town or city has probably has a
special collection area for these hazardous substances.
306
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Forests and Think of all the products we use that come from forests. Maple
fisheries syrup, rubber, fruits, and nuts come from living trees. Lumber for
307
Carbon dioxide There is very little carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, compared
and global to the amounts of nitrogen and oxygen (Figure 14.6). Does this
warming surprise you? The amount of carbon dioxide in Earths atmosphere
is just enough to trap heat from the Sun to make Earth warm
and comfortable. Earth would be too warm with too much carbon
dioxide, and too cold if the carbon dioxide level was too low. When
we use fossil fuels, we add more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Increased levels of carbon dioxide can contribute to global
warming. Using public transportation, using less electricity (turn
out the lights!), and driving hybrid vehicles can all help reduce
carbon dioxide levels.
Trees and air One acre of trees can provide oxygen for about 20 people each day.
quality This same acre of trees can also absorb emissions, including
carbon dioxide. Trees are not the solution to the problem of
increased carbon dioxide levels, but they can certainly help!
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309
Chapter 14 Connection
310
Questions:
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Chapter 14 Connection
311
Conserving Resources
Chapter 14 Activity
312
Chapter 14 Assessment
Vocabulary
2.
emissions
renewable resource
fossil fuels
natural resources
pollution
petroleum
Section 14.2
3.
Describe the three fossil fuels and where they can be found.
4.
Section 14.1
1.
2.
Section 14.2
3.
_____ are substances made from things that were once alive.
4.
5.
6.
8.
9.
b.
c.
Section 14.3
7.
Look around you right now and name five objects that would
not exist if there was no petroleum.
6.
Concepts
Section 14.3
Section 14.1
7.
1.
8.
9.
CHAPTER 14 RESOURCES
313
3.
Section 14.1
1.
a.
b.
Section 14.2
2.
c.
800
700
e.
600
500
400
300
200
Section 14.3
100
4.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
314
CHAPTER 14 RESOURCES
Chapter 15
Ecosystems
A California sea otter wakes up from a nap and unwraps itself
from the large frond of kelp that was keeping it from floating
away while sleeping. The playful sea otter dives to the ocean
floor, looking for tasty sea urchins that are feeding on the
kelp. After bringing a sea urchin to the surface, the sea otter
floats on its back in the sunshine, opens the urchin by
banging on it with a rock, and eats it. The ocean water, kelp,
sea urchins, sea otter, sunshine indeed, all of the living and
nonliving things that interact in this coastal marine area
make up an ecosystem. What types of ecosystems are found
where you live?
1. What is an ecosystem?
2. What is a common way to show who eats
whom in an ecosystem?
3. Why are ecosystems in a delicate balance?
What is an ecosystem?
Organizing living Individual living things can be grouped into higher levels of
things organization. Living things of the same type are grouped into
316
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
317
318
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
319
320
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
321
Producers are What is the most plentiful member of a field ecosystem? You might
plentiful answer carnivores, since there are three examples of carnivores
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Energy pyramid A diagram in the shape of a pyramid is a good way to show how
energy moves from one feeding level to the next in a food chain.
Why is the pyramid a good shape for the diagram? Because a
pyramid is wide at the base and narrow at the top. As you move up
the pyramid from producer to consumer, the diagram gets smaller
and smaller to show how less and less energy is available.
1 energy unit
2.
3.
10 energy units
100 energy units
1,000 energy units
10,000 energy units
An energy pyramid shows how many units of energy
there are at each level of a food chain.
323
Food webs
What is a food Most animals are part of more than one food chain. They eat more
web? than one kind of food to get enough energy and nutrients. You can
connect many food chains to form a food web. How many simple
food chains are shown in the food web below?
324
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
325
Interactions
Predator-prey Sharks in Sable Islands offshore waters are known to eat seals.
relationships Animals that feed on other animals are called predators. In this
example, the sharks are predators and the seals are prey. The
sharks like to eat both kinds of seals, but harbor seals are smaller
and easier to catch. Predator-prey relationships help keep a
natural balance in an ecosystem.
Symbiosis There are many cases where two different types of living things
live closely together for long periods of time. This type of
interaction is called symbiosis. In symbiosis, at least one member
always benefits from the interaction. A remora is a small fish that
follows sharks around and eats their scraps. The remora benefits
from the shark, but the shark does not benefit from the remora.
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Pollutants
What is a Human activities affect ecosystems in both positive and negative
pollutant? ways. One negative effect is pollution. A pollutant is something
that causes harm to a living thing. Three things often determine
how harmful a pollutant is:
the air, it can make breathing difficult even for healthy people. It
also reacts with water in the atmosphere to make acid rain. Acid
rain can kill trees and harm life in lakes, ponds, and streams.
Sulfur dioxide enters the air from fossil fuel power plants,
automobiles, and even volcanoes.
327
Keystone species Sea otters are called a keystone species. This means that they are
very important members of the marine ecosystem. The feeding
habits of sea otters directly affect animals and plants that are
lower in the food chain. Sea otters play an important role in
maintaining the healthy balance of the kelp community. Kelp is a
large sea plant that can form underwater forests (Figure 15.7).
The ecosystem Sea otters are important to the health of a kelp forest because they
balancing act eat sea urchins, abalone, and other shellfish that feed on the kelp.
Without sea otters, the shellfish population would eat too much of
the kelp and destroy the kelp forest. Why is the kelp forest
important? It is home to many fish, shellfish, and other marine
life. Can you see how an ecosystem and all of its members interact
in a delicate, natural balancing act?
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Water quality
Marine and Perhaps you live in a coastal region, where marine ecosystems are
freshwater part of your everyday life. But even if you live far inland, you are
ecosystems part of another kind of aquatic environmenta freshwater
ecosystem. We depend on fresh water for drinking, for staying
clean, and for farming and industries. Humans cant live apart
from a freshwater ecosystem!
Water quality Because clean water is so important to our daily lives, we must
testing protect the health of freshwater ecosystems. Governments and civic
groups test the quality of surface water regularly (Figure 15.8).
Observing a To learn about the water quality of a pond, river, or lake, you would
body of water first make careful observations. You might ask, What does the
pond water look like or smell like? What animals and plants are
living in the pond? Where is the pond located? Are there houses or
farms nearby? Is the pond near a factory? Common tests used to
see if surface water is healthy are described below.
Turbidity test The turbidity test measures the cloudiness of water. If the water is
cloudy due to suspended sediment, sunlight is blocked, and pond
plants do not grow well. This can be harmful, because pond plants
are needed as food for other living things in the pond. A secchi disk
provides an easy way to measure turbidity (Figure 15.9). The disk
is lowered into the water until the black and white panels are no
longer visible to a person looking into the water. The rope holding
the disk is marked at meter and half-meter intervals to measure
the depth of the disk when it disappears from view underwater.
329
Biological The biological oxygen demand test is a two-part test. Two water
oxygen demand samples are taken at the same time. Dissolved oxygen is measured
test in the first sample right away. The second sample is shielded from
light and measured at a later time. The amount of oxygen in the
first and second samples is compared to find out how much oxygen
was used by bacteria as they decompose organic material.
Nitrate and Nitrates and phosphates are chemicals that can enter ponds that
phosphate tests are near farms, fertilized lawns, or septic tanks. Excess nitrates or
Summary These water quality tests help make sure that the water we need
stays clean and safe. When test results show that a body of water
is unhealthy, government and civic groups can work together to
find the causes and decide on a way to make the aquatic ecosystem
healthy once again.
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Turbidity
The cloudiness of
the water
Dissolved oxygen
Nitrates
pH
331
Chapter 15 Connection
Kelp forests are found all along the cool waters of the Pacific
coast, as far north as Alaska and as far south as
southernmost California. Kelp forests are also found along
the shores of South America, southern Australia, and South
Africa. In general, kelp grows in waters of about 50-60F.
3 3 2
A community of creatures
Kelp forests are home to
hundreds of creatures. Sea
anemones, sponges, and
corals are found on the floor
of the kelp forest. Fish swim
and settle among the kelp's
stipes and floating blades.
Sea otters dive and roll at
the surface of the forest, or
dive to the kelp floor, where they may find treats like sea
urchins, clams, crabs, and sea stars. Sometimes the otters
wrap themselves in strands of kelp where they sleep.
Sharks, rays, sea lions, and harbor seals also may spend
time hunting for fish among the kelp.
Questions:
1. What are the three main parts of a kelp plant and what are
their functions?
2. Where are kelp forests found in the world?
3. How does the canopy of the Monterey Bay forest change with
the seasons?
4. How is the kelp forest exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
maintained, and what do researchers hope to learn from it?
Chapter 15 Connection
If one day you qualify for scuba diving, you may actually see
a living kelp forest and its inhabitants below the ocean
surface. Or if one day you travel to Monterey, the Monterey
Bay Aquarium houses a kelp forest just like those in nature
in the ocean. The huge exhibit tank is 28 feet tall, 66 feet
wide, and holds 330,000 gallons of seawater. A constant
supply of seawater is pumped into the tank from the bay.
During the day, the water is filtered and clear so that
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
333
Chapter 15 Activity
Create a Species
Each species that lives in an ecosystem has a unique
way in which it interacts with its physical and
biological environment, otherwise known as its niche.
In order to fit into its niche, a species must have certain
adaptations to help it survive. For example, a porcupine
has sharp quills in order to ward off predators from
attacking it. Other examples of adaptations are when
species have camouflage to hide from predators or prey.
Species do not have just one adaptation to fit into an
ecosystem, rather they have several adaptations that
allow the organism to find shelter, food, hide from
predators, find a mate and many other things that
enhance a species chance of survival.
What you will do
1. Create a species that is perfectly adapted to its
environment. This species should be made up.
2. Design an environment and the characteristics of the
ecosystem where your species will live. Use the table at
the right to guide you in designing your ecosystem.
3. Now, design your species. Include the adaptations that
allow the species to live in its environment successfully.
List the adaptations in the bottom rows of the table.
4. Draw your species.
5. Name your species and label it on your drawing. Now take
a look at the species that your classmates designed, and
see the variety of ideas that other students came up with.
334
Ecosystem feature
What is your
ecosystem like?
Climate
average temperature of the time of year
precipitation details
altitude, latitude
proximity to water (fresh or salt water)
Vegetation
amount
color - can be unrealistic!
height
plant type: flower, tree, cactus etc.
leaf type: needles. etc
Food source
Type of food in environment species
may eat
How does it get its food?
Omnivore, herbivore, or a carnivore?
Predators
What are the predators in the
ecosystem that he/she must hide from?
Are there predators?
How many predators?
Climate
Vegetation
Food source
Predators
Characteristic of
organism to
adapt to features
you designed
above
Chapter 15 Assessment
Vocabulary
Select the correct term to complete the sentences.
producer
photosynthesis
food web
competition
consumer
energy pyramid
decomposer
predator
carnivore
omnivore
herbivore
symbiosis
ecosystem
prey
pollutant
food chain
Section 15.1
12. A hawk captures and eats a mouse. In this case, the hawk
would be called a _____ and the mouse is its _____.
13. _____ is an interaction where two species live together for a
long time and at least one of them benefits.
1.
A _____ is a living thing that can take the Suns energy and
store it as food.
2.
3.
4.
Concepts
5.
1.
6.
7.
8.
Section 15.2
9.
Section 15.1
2.
tropical rainforest
school gymnasium
desert
Sun
rotting log and surroundings
bean plant
rock
CHAPTER 15 ECOSYSTEMS
335
Section 15.2
Section 15.1
1.
Section 15.2
2.
Section 15.3
3.
Study the table below. Name the lake that has poor water
quality and explain the reason for your answer.
Lake
Citizen Lake
Lake Armstrong
3.
4.
Find a food chain within the food web above that has 5
levels. Diagram the food chain.
5.
Section 15.3
6.
336
CHAPTER 15 ECOSYSTEMS
pH
nitrate level
dissolved oxygen
7.5
4.5
low
high
high
low
Chapter 16
Biomes
In Chapter 6, you learned about seasons, wind, ocean
currents, and weather patterns. All of these elements work
together to produce different climates in different parts of the
world. In this chapter, you will learn about climates and
climate regions called biomes. Earth has six main biomes that
have particular plants and animals. These biomes are deserts,
grasslands, temperate deciduous forests, rainforests, taiga,
and tundras. In which biome do you live? What types of plants
and animals live where you live?
Climate
Factors that You learned about climates in Chapter 6. A climate is defined as
affect climate the type of weather patterns that a place has, on average, over a
Weather patterns Weather is a term that describes the condition of the atmosphere
in terms of temperature, wind, and atmospheric pressure.
Changes in these conditions cause weather patterns. The Sun is
the major source of energy for weather and weather patterns.
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Characteristics of biomes
What is a biome? Scientists divide the planet into climate regions called biomes.
Latitude and Relative humidity is a measure of how much water vapor an air
humidity mass contains (see full definition in Chapter 6). Humidity is related
to plant and animal diversity. From the poles to the equator,
humidity and the diversity of plants and animals increases.
Sunlight at the Earth is hottest near the equator where the Sun is closest to being
equator vs high directly overhead year round. At the north and south poles,
latitudes temperatures are much colder. This effect is related to the fact that
light travels in straight parallel lines. To demonstrate what is
happening, imagine shining a flashlight on a sheet of paper
(Figure 16.1). The light makes a bright, small spot. By tilting the
paper, you can make the light spot bigger and less intense.
90
15
339
Portland
Minneapolis
January
1 7 C, (34 45 F)
-16 -6 C (3 21 F)
July
14 27 C (57 80 F)
17 29 C (63 84 F)
Water helps The differences in temperature between the two cities have to do
regulate with water, which is an effective moderator of temperature. Water
temperature warms up and cools down slowly. Land warms up and cools down
quickly. Therefore, regions near waterlike Portlanddo not
have extremely hot or cold weather. Similarly, wet areas like
marshes and swamps dont experience the temperature extremes
found in desert regions.
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Earths biomes
341
Ecosystems Biomes are large geographic areas. Within a biome, there are
many interrelated ecosystems. An ecosystem is made up of the
plants and animals that live there, plus nonliving things like soil,
air, water, sunlight, and nutrients. The living and nonliving parts
of an ecosystem work together, and each organism plays an
important ecological role. On a baseball team, for example,
important roles include coach, pitcher, catcher, outfielders, and
infielders. Similarly, organisms play roles in their ecosystem.
How many roles? The number and types of organisms that an ecosystem can support
depends on the resources available (food sources) and on
environmental factors, such as the amount of available sunlight,
water, and the temperature. For plants, another important factor
is soil composition. The roles within a biome ecosystem depend on
the quantity and type of resources. Each ecosystem of a particular
biome type has organisms that play similar roles. For example,
both a rainforest in South America and a rainforest in Australia
have predators, herbivores, and decomposers suited to surviving
in the rainforest environment.
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Biodiversity
Answer the following questions.
1. What does the term diversity
mean?
2. What does the term biodiversity
mean?
3. Does this statement surprise you?
Why or why not?
The biodiversity of the desert is
greater than for other biomes with the
exception of the tropical rainforest.
4. Why is biodiversity in an ecosystem
important?
343
Deserts
Desert regions A desert is a climate region that averages less than 35 centimeters
of rainfall per year. Most deserts are found between the latitudes
of 30 N and 30 S. Because of the lack of cloud cover, deserts
receive more than twice as much incoming solar radiation as
humid regions. They also emit almost twice as much radiation at
night. As a result, deserts have large variations in daily high and
low temperatures.
How deserts form You may wonder why there is so little rain in the desert. The
answer depends on which desert you are talking about. The
Sahara and Australian deserts are caused by regions of high
atmospheric pressure found near 30 latitude lines (Figure 16.6).
High pressure prevents air near the ground from rising and
cooling. As a result, not much condensation takes place. When the
condensation rate is lower than the evaporation rate, skies are
usually clear and very little precipitation falls.
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Rainshadow Other deserts, such as one found in eastern Washington state, are
deserts caused by the rainshadow effect. Prevailing westerly winds blow
Fog deserts A third type of desert is known as a fog desert. Fog deserts are
345
Grasslands
Grasslands are found on every continent except Antarctica. There
are two types of grasslands: tropical grasslands, known as
savannas, and temperate grasslands.
Savannas Savannas are found in parts of the tropics where there is not
enough rainfall throughout the year to create a rainforest.
Savannas are characterized by two seasons: rainy and dry. During
the rainy season, which lasts for six to eight months, 50 to 127
centimeters of rain falls. This season is followed by a drought,
which in many areas culminates with wildfires. The fires and the
poor soil conditions prevent the growth of most trees. In fact, in
some areas, trees grow only on termite mounds (Figure 16.9). The
isolated trees found in savannas have cork-like bark or an
outer coating that can withstand some fire damage.
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Grasslands have Around the world, grasslands go by different names (Figure 16.10).
many names In central Asia a grassland is called a steppe. A grassland is called
a savanna or veld in southern Africa. In North America, a
grassland is called a prairie. In South America, it is called a
pampa. And in Australia, a grassland is called an outback.
Location
Central Asia
steppe
Southern
Africa
savanna or veld
North
America
prairie
South
America
pampa
Australia
outback
347
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
349
Tropical rainforests
Tropical Tropical rainforests are found near the equatorbetween the
rainforests latitudes of 23.5 N and 23.5 S. They have an average rainfall of
Rainforest life Although tropical rainforests cover less than 6 percent of Earths
land, these biomes have extremely high biodiversity. Half of all of
the animal and plant species in the world are found there. There
can be as many as 100 different species of plants per hectare (2.47
acres). The most abundant type of plants are tall trees that form a
dense canopy. Many foods we enjoy, including Brazil nuts,
bananas, pineapple, cocoa, coffee, vanilla and cinnamon
flavorings, and coconut originate in tropical rainforests
(Figure 16.13).
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Trees and global According to NASA data, an area of tropical rainforest the size of
climate North Carolina is destroyed every year. Land is cleared for crops,
351
352
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
The taiga
The largest land The taiga, otherwise known as a boreal or coniferous forest, is the
biome largest land biome. The taiga can be found between the latitudes of
353
Taiga life Evergreen trees with needle-like leaves are the most common type
of vegetation found in the taiga, which is the Russian word for
forest (Figure 16.18). These include pine, fir, and spruce trees. All
of these trees are cone-shaped, which helps them shed snow so its
weight doesnt break their branches. The needle shape of the
leaves helps prevent moisture loss in the winter. This is important
because trees cant take in water from frozen soil. The fact that
they dont lose their needles in the fall means that they dont have
to waste time in the early spring growing new ones, and can get
started on photosynthesis as soon as it is warm enough. The roots
of these trees are shallow and spread out wide. This makes it
possible for them to take in surface water from melting snow
and ice even though much of the ground underneath them is
still frozen.
Snow keeps Did you know that snow is a great insulator? In the taiga biome, a
things warm! thick layer of snow (often several meters deep) falls before the
coldest part of the winter. The air spaces between snow crystals
prevent the ground underneath from losing more and more heat as
the winter progresses (Figure 16.19).
Surviving the While air temperatures may be well below 0 C for weeks on end,
winter in the taiga the ground temperature will remain right around freezing. Mice
and other small mammals make tunnels in the snow that link
their burrows and food stashes. The temperature in the burrows
remains fairly constant, even when the outside air temperature
plummets.
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UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
Tundra
Tundra Tundra is the coldest biome on Earth. The word tundra comes from
a Finnish word for treeless land. There are two types of tundra
Arctic tundra, found in a band around the Arctic Ocean, and alpine
tundra, found high in mid-latitude mountains.
Arctic tundra Arctic tundra has a growing season of only 50 to 60 days. The
average winter temperature is -34 C. Summer temperatures
rarely exceed 12 C. As a result of these
cold temperatures, the ground is
permanently frozen from 25 centimeters
to about 100 centimeters below the
surface. This frozen ground is called
permafrost (Figure 16.20). There is a
thin layer of soil above the permafrost
that does thaw in summertime, but it is
not deep enough to support the growth
of trees. Lichens, mosses, grasses, and a
few woody shrubs are the most common
plants in the Arctic tundra.
355
dioxide into the air. However, when an Arctic tundra plant dies,
the cold temperatures prevent it from rapidly decaying into soil.
Instead, at least part of its structure remains intact until it is
frozen in the permafrost. In fact, remains of plants 1,000 years old
have been found in the permafrost. Since the plant structures
dont completely decay, carbon that would have been released into
the atmosphere as carbon dioxide stays in the ground. For this
reason, permafrost is called a carbon sink (Figure 16.21).
Alpine tundra Alpine tundra occurs in middle-latitude regions, but at very high
altitudes. Alpine tundra biomes occur in the Andes Mountains in
South America, in the Rocky Mountains in North America, and in
the Himalayan Mountains. Cold temperatures, windy conditions,
and thin soil create an environment where only plants similar to
those in the Arctic regions can survive. In rocky alpine regions,
lichens and mosses are the dominant plants, but in alpine
meadows, grasses and small woody shrubs can be found.
carbon sink.
356
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
b. Australia
d. Russia
f. Brazil
357
Chapter 16 Connection
358
Questions:
1. Why is a fire policy that stops all fires not a good policy?
2. How is fire beneficial to a forest?
3. Describe several fire-resistant or fire-adapted trees.
Chapter 16 Connection
There are many trees that can withstand fire or adapt to it.
Although lodgepole pines are not resistant to fire, they need
fire to open their cones glued shut with resin. Heat melts the
resin, opening the cones to release seeds into the soil.
UNIT 5 ECOLOGY
359
Chapter 16 Activity
Biome Expedition
Each individual biome is a region of Earth that has a unique
set of plants and animals that thrive in its particular
climate. In this chapter you have studied the desert, tundra,
taiga, temperate deciduous forest, tropical rainforest, and
grassland. Each biome is equipped with a unique set
characteristics and harsh conditions, which you have
studied. For instance, the desert is extraordinarily dry, and
creatures that live there must have special adaptations to
deal with a lack of water.
5. Now, you and your group mates will share the contents of
your biome expedition suitcase with your class. Do not
tell your classmates why you are bringing each item,
simply tell them what you are bringing.
6. When you are done with your presentation, allow your
classmate to guess for which biome and season you
packed. How did your classmates do? Did they guess
correctly?
Could you survive for three days with one suitcase worth of
equipment and no shelter? You must plan carefully because
it is likely that you would need different equipment to
survive in the tundra than to survive in the tropical
rainforest. Your challenge is to survive in one of these
biomes for three days and two nights. The most important
thing you can do to survive is to pack the proper equipment.
Good luck on your expedition!
360
Reflection
Chapter 16 Assessment
Vocabulary
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
A plant that lives in the desert most likely has the following
characteristics.
taiga
deserts
tundra
tropical rainforests
grasslands
Sections 16.1, 16.2, and 16.3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
a.
b.
Concepts
c.
d.
Section 16.1
1.
2.
Section 16.2
8.
9.
361
1.
2.
6 months
50-60 days
20-30 days
4 months
362
CHAPTER 16 BIOMES
a.
b.
CHAPTER 16 ASSESSMENT
c.
d.
3.
Section 16.4
7.
Temperature range
Biome
Tropical rainforest
Tundra
a.
b.
c.
d.
Section 16.2
4.
Section 16.3
5.
b.
6.
8.
Low temp
(C)
High Temp
(C)
20
25
-34
12
2.
3.
4.
363
Glossary
A glossary is an alphabetical list of important words found in the sections in this book. Use this glossary just as you
would use a dictionary: to find out the meaning of unfamiliar words. This glossary gives the meaning that applies to
the words as they are used in the sections of this book. As with any subject, science has its own vocabulary. The study
of science is more meaningful if you know the language of science.
B
basalt a dark-colored rock that is not silica-rich.
bathymetric map a map that shows the depths of a body
of water such as a lake or an ocean.
beach a sandy zone above the foreshore in a shallow
marine environment.
biomes major climate regions with particular plant and
animal communities. Earth has six important biomes.
body waves sesmic waves that travel through the
interior of Earth.
braided stream a stream that has many channels that
criss-cross each other.
buoyant force an upward lifting force that acts on an
object when it pushes aside a fluid.
364
Glossary
365
E
earthquake the movement of Earths crust resulting
from the building up of stored energy between two
stuck lithospheric plates.
ecosystem a group of living things and their physical
surroundings.
element a substance composed of only one kind of atom.
elevation the height of an object measured from a
reference level.
emissions tiny particles and gases released into the air.
energy a measure of a systems ability to change.
energy pyramid diagram that shows how energy moves
from one feeding level to the next in a food chain.
epicenter a point on Earths surface right above the
focus of an earthquake.
equator an imaginary line around the middle of Earth
between the north and south poles.
evaporation occurs when a liquid changes to a gas.
experiment an activity performed to support or refute
a hypothesis.
extinct volcano a volcano that no longer erupts and is in
the process of eroding.
F
fault a region on Earths surface that is split into two
pieces.
flooding an event that occurs when water overwhelms
normally dry land.
floodplain flat land near a river that tends to flood and
that is usually located some distance form the source of
the river.
fluid matter that can flow, usually a liquid or a gas.
focus the point below Earths surface where a rock
breaks and causes an earthquake.
food chain shows how each member of an ecosystem
community gets its food.
food web a group of overlapping food chains in an
ecosystem.
fossil a part of a dead animal or plant that has been
preserved for a long time.
fossil fuels substances found in Earths crust that were
formed over millions of years from the remains of dead
organisms.
frost wedging physical weathering that results from
freezing water.
G
geologic cycle a set of processes that keep rocky
material moving from place to place on Earth.
geology the study of rocks and rock formations.
366
K
kinetic energy energy of motion.
Glossary
367
368
N
natural hazard an event in nature that can cause
extensive damage to land and property, and that
threatens human lives.
natural resource a feature of Earth that benefits people.
nonrenewable resource a natural resource that is not
replaced as it is used.
P
Pangaea an ancient, huge landmass composed of earlier
forms of todays continents; an ancient supercontinent.
petroleum another name for the natural resource called
oil.
photosynthesis the process plants use to make food
from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.
physical weathering physical forces that break rocks
down into smaller pieces.
plate tectonics a theory explaining how the pieces of
Earths surface (the plates) move.
R
radiation heat transfer that involves energy waves and
no direct contact or movement by atoms.
radioactive decay refers to how unstable atoms lose
energy and matter over time.
relative dating a method of putting events in the order
in which they happened.
renewable resource a natural resource that can be
replaced.
resource conservation protecting, preserving, and
managing Earths natural resources.
Glossary
P-waves sesmic waves that move with a forward-andback motion; these waves are faster than S-waves.
369
S
science a process for answering questions.
scientific law a statement that describes an observed
phenomenon; it is supported by evidence collected from
many observations and experiments.
scientific method a series of steps including
observation, forming a question, stating a hypothesis,
collecting data, and reaching a conclusion.
scientific theory a statement that explains a complex
idea; it is supported by evidence collected from many
experiments.
sea level the average level of the ocean; the halfway
point between high tide and low tide.
sea-floor spreading a hypothesis that new sea floor is
created at mid-ocean ridges and that in the process the
continents are pushed apart from each other.
sediment small pieces and grains of weathered rock;
also, small pieces of material from living things.
sedimentary rocks rocks that are made of sediments.
seismic waves vibrations that travel through Earth and
are caused by events like earthquakes or human-made
blasts.
seismograph an instrument that measures and records
seismic waves.
seismologist a scientist who detects and interprets
370
seismic waves.
shield volcano a flat and wide volcano that has lowsilica magma with low or high levels of dissolved gas.
silica an ingredient in magma and lava that makes
them thick and sticky; quartz is a mineral made of
silica.
slumping an event that occurs when soil particles
become surrounded by water so that the ground slides
or slumps. Slumping is a form of mass wasting which
is the falling of rock and soil due to the influence of
gravity.
solar energy energy from the Sun.
stream a small river.
subduction a process that involves a lithospheric plate
sinking into the mantle.
surface ocean currents wind-driven currents that move
at the ocean surface, often for very long distances.
surface waves body waves that reach and travel along
Earths surface.
S-waves seismic waves that move with a side-to-side
motion and are slower than P-waves.
symbiosis an interaction where two species live
together for a long time and at least one of the species
benefits.
system a group of objects and the factors that affect the
objects.
V
variable a factor that affects an object; examples include
mass, temperature, speed, and time.
U
unit a specific quantity that is counted to make a
measurement.
Glossary
W
water cycle a set of processes energized by the Sun that
keep water moving from place to place on Earth.
water vapor water in gas form.
wavelength the distance between two wave crests, or
the distance between two wave troughs.
weather the condition of the atmosphere as it is affected
by wind, water, temperature, and atmospheric
pressure.
weathering the process of breaking down rock.
371
372
Index
The index gives the page numbers where you can find a word, definition, information about a topic or a large
category. You can use the index when you are studying and need to find information quickly. The index is a good
place to look up a vocabulary word to get more information about the meaning of a word.
B
basalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210, 221
bathymetric map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
beach
and tidal flats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
change in sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
parts of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
waves and sand . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
winter vs. summer . . . . . . . . . 259
biological oxygen demand test . . . 330
C
caldera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
carbon sink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
carbon-oxygen cycle . . . . . . . . . . . 319
carnivore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Celsius scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Cenozoic era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Index
acoustics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
active volcano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
adaptation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
aesthenosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
aftershocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
alpine tundra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
altitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
arctic tundra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
ashfall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
astronomy
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
atom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 38, 60
atomic scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
atoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76, 83, 96
axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
biology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
biomes
characteristics of . . . . . . . 339342
deserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
grasslands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
plants and animals in . . . . . . . 342
taiga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353, 354
temperate deciduous forests . . 349
tropical rainforests . . . . . . . . . 350
tundra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
body waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
bony beach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
boundaries
convergent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
divergent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
transform fault . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
braided stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
breakwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
buoyancy (see buoyant force)
buoyant force . . . . . . . . . 100, 101, 103
373
Cousteau, Jacques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
crest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
cross bedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
cross-cutting relationships . . . . . . . 57
crust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Curie, Marie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
D
data
collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
interpreting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
types of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
deciduous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
decomposer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
deep focus earthquake . . . . . . . . . . 183
deep ocean currents . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
dendrochronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
density . . . . . . . . . . . . 96, 97, 106, 146
density values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
dependent variable . . . . . . . . . . 36, 41
desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
dike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
direction of younging . . . . . . . . . . . 244
dissolved oxygen test . . . . . . . . . . . 330
disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
divergent boundary . . . . . . . . 167, 168
dormant volcano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Douglass, Andrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
dredges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Dziewonski, Dr. Adam . . . . . . . . . . 148
E
Earth
age of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 60
374
convection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
heat energy . . . . . . . . . . . . 106, 115
interior . . . . . . . . . . . 140, 142144
internal heat energy . . . . . . . . . 86
layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
layers and density . . . . . . . . . . 146
magnetic field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
rotation and temperature . . . . 116
seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
surface temperature . . . . . . . . . 114
weather patterns . . . . . . . 124, 338
weight and mass . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Earth science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
earthquake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
and buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
causes of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183, 187
locating epicenter . . . . . . . 191, 192
measuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
stick-slip motion . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
zones of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
ecosystem . . . . 316, 326, 327, 328, 342
Edison, Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
electricity
energy source for . . . . . . . . . . . 295
from fossil fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
from nuclear energy . . . . . . . . . 299
from renewable resources . . . . 300
transporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
elevation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
and daily life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
F
Fahrenheit scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
faunal succession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
fire fountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
firebreak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
flash flood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
float . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99, 101, 102, 103
flooding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273, 275
floodplain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
fog desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
food chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
food web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
foreshocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
foreshore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
fossil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
fossil fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
frost wedging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
H
half-life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Hawaiian Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
heat
I
igneous rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174, 221
inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
independent variable . . . . . . . . 36, 41
inference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 15
intertidal zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
island chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
J
jetty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Jupiter
weight and mass . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
K
Kelvin, William Thomson . . . . . . . . 60
keystone species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
kilogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
kinetic energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76, 77
L
lahars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218, 283
landslide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
lateral continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
latitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 339, 340
lava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
lava bombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
lava lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
limestone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
liquefaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
liter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
lithosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
lithospheric plate 163, 164, 172, 185, 186
longitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
M
macroscopic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
magma
and igneous rocks . . . . . . . . . . 222
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
silica content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
silica level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
types of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
magma chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
magnetic pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
mantle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143, 148
mantle plume . . . . . . . . . . . . 164, 165
mantle plumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
map
bathymetric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
topographic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 65
Index
gabbro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
geologic time scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
geological cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
geyser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
glacier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147, 234
global warming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
graded bedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
graduated cylinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
gram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
granite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213, 221
graph
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
making of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
parts of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
types of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
grasslands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 94
greenhouse gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Greenwich, England . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Gulf Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
gyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
375
marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 30, 94
mathematical model . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
meandering scars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
meanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
measurement
data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
English System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
metric system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
of mass and weight . . . . . . . . . . 30
of temperature . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 33
of time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
of volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 95
SI units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
mental model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Mercalli Intensity Scale . . . . . . . . . 279
Mercalli Intensity scale . . . . . . . . . 195
mercury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Mesozoic era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
metamorphic rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
meteorologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Metric System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
mid-ocean ridge
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
divergent boundary . . . . . . . . . 168
formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
magnetic pattern . . . . . . . . . . . 162
mid-ocean ridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
molecule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76, 106
Moment Magnitude Scale . . . . . . . 194
mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
mountain formation . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
376
mudstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
N
National Hurricane Center (NHC) 270
National Map Accuracy Standards . 64
natural hazard
earthquake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
energy for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
flooding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
hurricane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
reducing risk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
slumping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
tsunami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
volcano . . . . . . . . . . . 282, 283, 284
wildfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
natural resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
neutral buoyancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
New Madrid Fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
newton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
nitrate and phosphate tests . . . . . 330
nonrenewable resource . . . . . . . . . 298
nuclear energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
O
observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 10, 14
obsidian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
ocean
currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
deep currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
gyre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
surface currents . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
ocean crust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143, 146
ocean plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
offshore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
omnivore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
original horizontality . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Origins of the Continents . . . . . . . . . . 158
ornithology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
outback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
P
paleontologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Paleozoic era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
pampa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Pangaea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 158, 172
permafrost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
petroleum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
pH test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
photosynthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
physical model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
physical weathering . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
pillow lava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
plate boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . 167, 209
plate tectonics
and continental drift . . . . . . . . 158
evidence for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
lithospheric plates . . . . . . . . . . 163
point bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
pollutant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
potential energy . . . . . . . . . . . 183, 187
power plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80, 297
prairie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Precambrian era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
predator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
prey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
prime meridian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
pumice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
P-wave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
pyroclastic flow . . . . . . . . . . .
318, 322
217, 222
140, 189
218, 283
Q
qualitative data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
quantitative data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
quartz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
S
safety
and natural hazards . . . . . . . . 271
in a flood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale . . 274
San Andreas Fault . . . . 171, 186, 196
sand . . . . . . . . . . . . 255, 256, 259, 262
sandstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
saturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126, 127
savanna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346, 347
scale
map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
of a system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
science
and your life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
fields of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
learning about . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
notebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
scientific fact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
scientific law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
scientific method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 14
scientific theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
scoria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
sea level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
sea otters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
sea stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
sea-floor spreading . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
secchi disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
sediment . . . . . . . . . . . . 238, 239, 255
Index
radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84, 86
radioactive decay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
rainforest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350, 351
rainshadow desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
relative dating . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 56, 57
relative humidity . . . . . . . . . 126, 339
renewable resource . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
resources
conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
land, forests, wildlife . . . . . . . . 307
natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
nonrenewable . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
renewable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
resurgent dome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115, 117
rhyolite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Richter Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Richter scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
rift valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Ring of Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
river . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
river valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
rock
sedimentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
377
symbiosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 37
T
taiga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353, 354
temperate deciduous forests . . . . . 349
temperate grassland . . . . . . . . . . . 346
temperate rainforests . . . . . . . . . . 351
temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . 77, 78, 329
measurement of . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
thermal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124, 125
thermohaline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
thermometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
tidal flat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
geologic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
topographic map . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 65
transform fault
earthquake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
transform fault boundary . . . 167, 171
transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
tree rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Tree-Ring Research Laboratory . . . 61
trench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
tropical rainforest . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
trough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
tsunami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
tundra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
turbidity test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
378
U
unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
United States Geological
Survey (USGS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
uranium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
V
variable
control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
dependent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 41
independent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 41
veld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
vent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Vermeij, Geerat J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Verne, Jules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
volcanic ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
volcanic island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
volcanic island chain . . . . . . . . . . . 211
volcano
after eruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
and water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
at mid-ocean ridges . . . . . . . . . 210
at plate boundaries . . . . . . . . . 209
at subduction zones . . . . . . . . . 213
chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
high silica magma . . . . . . . . . . 217
life time of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
low silica magma . . . . . . . . . . . 216
natural hazard . . . . . 282, 283, 284
parts of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
types of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
volcano neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
volcanologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 95
W
water
cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
movement of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
on Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114, 119
supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
water cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219, 319
water pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
water quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
water vapor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
wave
motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
P-wave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
seismic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
S-wave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
wavelength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256, 257, 261
weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124, 128, 338
weather patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
weathering
chemical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
definition of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
of mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
physical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Wegener, Alfred . . . . . . . . . . . 158, 159
weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 94
welded tuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
wildfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
wind energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
California Standards
These pages provide you with the standards that are taught in this book and are required learning for the state of
California.
1.b. Students know Earth is composed of several layers: a cold, brittle lithosphere; a hot, convecting mantle; and
a dense, metallic core.
1.c. Students know lithospheric plates the size of continents and oceans move at rates of centimeters per year in
response to movements in the mantle.
1.d. Students know that earthquakes are sudden motions along breaks in the crust called faults and that volcanoes
and fissures are locations where magma reaches the surface.
1.e. Students know major geologic events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain building, result
from plate motions.
1.f. Students know how to explain major features of California geology (including mountains, faults, volcanoes) in
terms of plate tectonics.
1.g. Students know how to determine the epicenter of an earthquake and know that the effects of an earthquake
on any region vary, depending on the size of the earthquake, the distance of the region from the epicenter,
the local geology, and the type of construction in the region.
2.a. Students know water running downhill is the dominant process in shaping the landscape, including Californias
landscape.
2.b. Students know rivers and streams are dynamic systems that erode, transport sediment, change course, and
flood their banks in natural and recurring patterns.
2.c. Students know beaches are dynamic systems in which the sand is supplied by rivers and moved along the coast
by the action of waves.
2.d. Students know earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and floods change human and wildlife habitats.
California Standards
1. Plate tectonics
accounts for
important
features of
Earths surface
and major
geologic
events. As a
basis for
understanding
this concept:
Completed
379
Completed
3.a. Students know energy can be carried from one place to another by heat flow or by waves, including water,
light and sound waves, or by moving objects.
3.b. Students know that when fuel is consumed, most of the energy released becomes heat energy.
3.c. Students know heat flows in solids by conduction (which involves no flow of matter) and in fluids by
conduction and by convection (which involves flow of matter).
3.d. Students know heat energy is also transferred between objects by radiation (radiation can travel through
space).
380
4.a. Students know the sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on Earths surface; it powers winds,
ocean currents, and the water cycle.
4.b. Students know solar energy reaches Earth through radiation, mostly in the form of visible light.
4.c. Students know heat from Earths interior reaches the surface primarily through convection.
4.d. Students know convection currents distribute heat in the atmosphere and oceans.
4.e. Students know differences in pressure, heat, air movement, and humidity result in changes of weather.
Completed
5.a. Students know energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy
through photosynthesis and then from organism to organism through food webs.
5.b. Students know matter is transferred over time from one organism to others in the food web and between
organisms and the physical environment.
5.c. Students know populations of organisms can be categorized by the functions they serve in an ecosystem.
5.d. Students know different kinds of organisms may play similar ecological roles in similar biomes.
5.e. Students know the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources
available and on abiotic factors, such as quantities of light and water, a range of temperatures, and soil
composition.
6.b. Students know different natural energy and material resources, including air, soil, rocks, minerals, petroleum,
fresh water, wildlife, and forests, and know how to classify them as renewable or nonrenewable.
6.c. Students know the natural origin of the materials used to make common objects.
California Standards
6. Sources of
energy and
materials
differ in
amounts,
distribution,
usefulness, and
the time
required for
their
formation. As a
basis for
understanding
this concept:
381
382
Completed
7.b. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales,
microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.
7.c. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the relationships between
variables.
7.d. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.
7.f. Read a topographic map and a geologic map for evidence provided on the maps and construct and interpret a
simple scale map.
7.g. Interpret events by sequence and time from natural phenomena (e.g., the relative ages of rocks and
intrusions).
7.h. Identify changes in natural phenomena over time without manipulating the phenomena (e.g., a tree limb, a
grove of trees, a stream, a hillslope)